The Brunswick High Pirates and Camden County Wildcats staged another good one Friday night as they collided once again in a season-opening showdown in Kingsland. But in the end, it was the hometown Wildcats outlasting the Pirates 44-35 at Chris Gilman Stadium on what was another steamy mid-August night in South Georgia. The victory was the second in a row for Camden over Brunswick which had won two straight in the series before the Wildcats toppled the Pirates 51-41 last year in the opening game for both teams at Glynn County Stadium. This one saw Camden leading 30-28 going into the fourth quarter. The Wildcats would surge ahead 37-28 early in the final period when Julian Daily, who scored on a run in the third quarter, scored from 17 yards out on a pass from new quarterback Will Jackson who transferred to Camden during the offseason. The Pirates answered quickly as senior quarterback Grant Moore and junior running back Josiah Gibbons hooked up for a 75-yard pass play to pull Brunswick back within 37-35 with lots of time left to play. BHS managed to keep it a two-point game when it got a stop deep in its own territory by recovering a Camden fumble as the Wildcats were threatening to score. The Pirates did move away from the end zone, but had to punt the ball back to the Wildcats who took over on the Brunswick side of the 50-yard line. The home squad would then make the drive of the night when they scored to regain their nine-point cushion, 44-35, with just over two minutes left in the game. Brunswick opened the scoring by going straight to the Camden end zone on its first drive of the night with Moore completing a 43-yard pass to senior tight end Heze Kent for the team’s first touchdown of the season. Camden scored on its second drive of the game and would convert a two-point play after the touchdown to go up 8-7. The Pirates found paydirt again in the second stanza when Moore and Kent, who committed to Florida this summer, teamed up for another passing touchdown and a 14-8 lead. BHS didn’t hold the lead for long, though. Camden came right back, answering the Brunswick score with a touchdown throw from Jackson, who has Power 5 offers as a junior, finding East Carolina commit David Coleman open for a 29-yard scoring play that allowed the home squad to regain the lead, 15-14. That lead didn’t last long, either. The Pirates, who averaged 46 points a game last fall in the regular season to set a new team scoring mark, needed only one play to score and go back on top, 21-15, late in the opening half. This third Brunswick score covered 73 yards when Moore hit speedster Waseem Murray with a short pass that went the distance for the score. The Pirates couldn’t keep Camden from scoring again, though, before going to the locker room at the half. The Wildcats would drive for another go-ahead score inside the final minute, and with a second two-point conversion, they would go into halftime up 23-21 at home. The Wildcats stretched their lead to 30-21 with an 80-yard drive to start the second half. Dailey did all the work for Camden as he ran the ball seven straight times for all 80 yards and the touchdown. The Pirates punched right back as they drove for a touchdown on their first possession after the half with Moore tossing a 13-yard pass to Dontre’ Butler to close out an 11-play drive by Brunswick. That made for the 30-28 score which is where things stood going into the final 12 minutes. Last season, Camden went on to win six more times after getting past the Pirates in the opening game. They finished 7-4 in their first season under head coach Travis Roland who led the Wildcats to the first round of the Class AAAAAA state playoffs last year. The Pirates would win their final nine regular-season games including all eight of their league games to claim the Region 1-AAAAA championship. Brunswick wound up finishing 10-2 after winning its first-round state playoff game before falling to Coffee in round two. Next week, the Pirates will host Wayne County for their home opener. The Yellow Jackets lost 38-14 on Friday to Glynn Academy in a game at GC Stadium. Kickoff next Friday is 7:30 p.m. --- Compiled by Kevin Price for GCS Athletics