Kickoff: A look at Brunswick High’s first game: Opponent: Camden County When: 7:30 p.m. Friday Where: Chris Gilman Stadium, Kingsland Records: BHS 0-0; CHS 0-0. Last week: BHS tied Ware County 34-34 in a preseason scrimmage. Camden tied Benedictine 14-14 in its scrimmage. Both teams played at home. Last year/All-time: Camden won 51-41 at BHS; Camden leads 27-13-1 in the all-time series. Game Preview This will be the third season in a row that the Pirates kick off the season against the Wildcats. The Pirates won the first two openers under head coach Garrett Grady who is beginning his fourth season as the team’s head man. The Wildcats won last year’s game when head coach Travis Roland was making his debut with Camden in the game played at Glynn County Stadium in Brunswick. The series shifts back to Kingsland this season where Brunswick won 21-17 back in 2023. Last year, Camden won the high-scoring contest between the rivals 51-41. The Wildcats took advantage of two errant punt snaps by the Pirates deep in their own territory and also a blocked punt to score three touchdowns in the second quarter. Camden went from trailing 14-10 to leading 30-14 at halftime. That game was the only one the Pirates would lose in the regular season as they went on to claim the Region 1-AAAAA title. Brunswick won its first-round state playoff game over Villa Rica but lost to Coffee in the second round to see its season come to an end with an 10-2 record. Camden, meantime, would finish 7-4 last season, but made the Class AAAAAA state playoffs as the No. 4 seed out of Region 1 before falling at North Cobb in the opening round. BHS begins 2025 with what should be another explosive offense. The Pirates averaged 46 points last fall in the regular season for a new single-season scoring mark. Seven starters return from that offense including all-star quarterback Grant Moore, a senior, and heralded senior tight end Heze Kent who is verbally committed to Florida. Juniors Nigel Gardner and Josiah Gibbons are ready to step in as the featured running backs for the Pirates after shining in backup roles last season. Junior Waseem Murray is also a big-play guy for the Pirates as a receiver. Brunswick’s defense suffered key losses due to graduation and could take time to jell. Players to watch on defense include senior secondary member Aviyon Addison, fellow senior defensive back Antwan Kirk, junior defensive back Samir Dobbins and down lineman Chozen Owens, a junior standout. Camden, which runs the spread offense, will debut a new quarterback in Friday’s opener. Will Jackson, a 6-foot-5 junior transfer from Florida, will operate the offense for the Wildcats this season. He has several scholarship offers already including Power 5 offers from South Carolina, Arkansas and Virginia Tech. He won’t be throwing to former Camden tight end Elyiss Williams, the nation’s top tight end prospect last year who signed with the Georgia Bulldogs back in December and quickly turned heads during spring practice in Athens. Jackson will have another big-time target to team with in Sean Green, a junior for the Wildcats who also has an offer from the Bulldogs. The Camden backfield will feature new guys, and one of those will be last year’s quarterback Parks Reindeau who will switch to halfback this season. The offensive line for the Wildcats has several guys who top 300 pounds when they step onto the scales in the team locker room. Standouts on the Camden defense include senior linebacker Xavier Brown who recorded 129 tackles last season and senior defensive back David Coleman who is committed to East Carolina. He is also a dangerous return man for the Wildcats and did return a kick for a touchdown last year against the Pirates. --- Compiled by Kevin Price for GCS Athletics