By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics If Brunswick High and Effingham were the frontrunners for the Region 1-AAAAA championship going into their game Friday night, there’s only one frontrunner remaining for the region title after the Pirates and Rebels played in the league opener at Glynn County Stadium. And that would be the Pirates (2-1), the defending region champions who appear headed for back-to-back crowns and a fourth in five seasons. Brunswick posted a 42-14 victory over the Rebels (1-2) between the bricks in a game that was one-sided from the opening kick, leaving little doubt about who the team to beat in the region is again this season. “It was a great team win,” said BHS head coach Garrett Grady. “Our kids came ready to play tonight. The region championship has come down to this game the last four years, and our guys were well-prepared. We just came out ready to play. I was proud to see that.” Last season, the Pirates opened the league slate with a 42-20 victory over the Rebels in Springfield and that was the first of their eight straight wins to claim the region crown with a perfect record in league play. Two years ago, the Rebels won the region with a perfect run through the league which included a win over the Pirates in the final game of the regular season. Effingham’s 2023 title ended Brunswick’s two-year reign atop the region as BHS had won back-to-back championships the previous two seasons. Now a month into the 2025 campaign, it doesn’t look like anyone in the region will be able to match the scoring prowess of the Pirates who surpassed the 40-point mark for the eighth time in their last nine region games while putting up 545 yards of offense against an overmatched Effingham defense. Brunswick had 328 total yards in the first two quarters while building a commanding 28-7 lead at halftime. “We were clicking tonight. We had a few times in the red zone when we had some drive-killing penalties, penalties that took us out of scoring position,” Grady said. “But we were able to put the ball in the end zone several times tonight, and we can build off that and just go back and correct the mistakes.” The 11 penalties by the Pirates for 97 yards on the night were perhaps the one negative number on the final stat sheet, but the other numbers by the Pirates were eye-popping in a good way for sure. Brunswick rushed for 398 yards including 200 in the opening half while throwing for 147 yards as well. The two junior running backs for the Pirates were dynamite again, combining for exactly 300 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries between them in the win. Speedster Nigel Gardner, who received a state championship ring with the other members of the BHS 4x200-meter relay team that won a state title this past spring, ran for 186 yards and two scores on 10 carries. He dashed 69 yards to paydirt to open a third-quarter drive for the Pirates as BHS went up 35-7 on the scoreboard. Gibbons was impressive, too. He carried 12 times for 114 yards and scored on a 33-yard run for Brunswick’s last touchdown early in the fourth quarter that made it 42-7 following the extra-point kick. Also for the Pirates, sophomore Brody Marshall carried 8 times for 55 yards. Meantime, senior quarterback Grant Moore was solid again. He finished the game 11-of-16 for 147 yards as the Pirates came off the gas pedal the more the game wore on after halftime. Moore was on the money early, especially. He completed his first eight passes in the game for 120 yards including a 28-yarder on Brunswick’s opening drive which covered 80 yards and ended with Moore keeping for a 7-yard TD run. Moore, who has a walk-on offer to Georgia Tech, also completed a 39-yard strike down the home sideline to Isreal Henry on the first play of Brunswick’s second possession which started at the Effingham 41-yard line following an interception by the BHS defense. The big play to the 2 led to a scoring run by Heze Kent on the next play, and BHS was up 14-0 before everyone got comfortable in their seats. Kent, a senior tight end and Florida commit, also scored on another 2-yard run late in the second quarter that gave the Pirates their 28-7 cushion before halftime. That pass interception by Zi’yan Rankin on Effingham’s first play from scrimmage was the first big play on an impressive night by Brunswick’s defense. The Pirates handcuffed a Rebels offense which put up 42 points in a loss to Houston County to start the season. BHS held Effingham to only 80 net yards in the first half, and the Rebels would finish with 208 for the game. Effingham’s senior quarterback Tucker Perkins, who threw for more than 3,000 yards and 36 touchdowns last year, was only 7-of-18 against the Pirates for 114 yards with the early interception. Perkins did not play last week after leaving Effingham’s opener against Houston County with a sprained ankle. He played with a noticeable limp Friday night, and Brunswick’s defense harassed him all game, pressuring the second-year starter into inaccurate passes and sacking him several times on the night. BHS also bottled up the Effingham ground game, limiting the visitors to 27 rushing yards in the first half and 94 for the game. Both of Effingham’s touchdowns were short runs by Mauricio McKenzie. His first score cut the BHS lead to 14-7 with just over four minutes left in the first quarter. His second touchdown made for the final score with about seven minutes remaining in the game. “The lines of scrimmage really dominated tonight for us,” Grady said. “That showed in our run game. Our defensive line was getting to the quarterback as were our blitzes with our linebackers, and when they got home, they were physical which is what we wanted to see.” Brunswick will go on the road next week for a region game at Evans in Augusta. Effingham returns home to face Bradwell Institute which stunned Glynn Academy on Friday night, winning 35-28 in Hinesville.