Kickoff: A look at Brunswick High’s season finale: Opponent: South Effingham When: 7:30 p.m. Friday Where: Glynn County Stadium Records: BHS 7-2, 6-1 Region 1-AAAAA; SE 4-5, 4-3 Region 1-AAAAA Last week: BHS was idle; South Effingham lost to Statesboro, 27-17 Last year/All-time: BHS won 57-20. BHS leads all-time series 10-1 Game Preview Brunswick High is coming off a bye week and will host South Effingham Friday night for the final regular-season game for both teams. It also will be Senior Night for the Pirates who have already clinched a state playoff berth. Brunswick still has a chance to win Region 1-AAAAA, but must defeat the Mustangs for that to happen. Brunswick also needs some help from Effingham which has to defeat Statesboro in their game Friday in Statesboro for the Pirates to win a second straight region championship. Going into Friday’s action, BHS, Statesboro and Effingham are all tied for first in the region standings with 6-1 records. Statesboro defeated Brunswick when they played, so the Blue Devils own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Pirates should they remain tied atop the standings. Thus, if Statesboro and Brunswick both win on Friday, the Blue Devils would win the region title and earn the top seed for the state playoffs, giving them the chance for a home game in the first two playoff rounds. The Pirates would go to state as the No. 2 seed and would be assured of a home game in the first round. If Brunswick wins and Effingham wins, the Pirates would get the region title and top seed because they beat the Rebels head-to-head. Effingham would then be the No. 2 seed and Statesboro would be the No. 3 seed. As long as the Pirates win Friday’s game, they can do no worse than the No. 2 seed. If they were to lose to the Mustangs as heavy favorites, they would still be the No. 2 seed if Statesboro defeats Effingham. That would leave BHS and Effingham tied for second with two losses and Brunswick would get the No. 2 seed over the Rebels. If the Pirates were to lose and Statesboro were to lose, Brunswick would fall to the No. 3 seed because the Blue Devils hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Pirates. Effingham would be the region champion and Statesboro would be the No. 2 seed. Glynn Academy should be the No. 4 seed from the region. The Red Terrors, who have three league losses, will lock down the fourth seed with a win at Greenbrier Friday in their season finale. The Terrors also would get the fourth spot even with a loss as long as the Pirates defeat the Mustangs. That would give South Effingham a fourth region loss, and Glynn owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Mustangs based on winning the game between the teams. South Effingham can still make the playoffs coming into Friday’s game against the Pirates. The Mustangs would have to upset the Pirates and then would need a Greenbrier victory over Glynn. That combination would leave them with three league losses and would get them to the postseason a season after they finished with an 0-10 record. Brunswick goes into Friday’s game averaging 44.6 points a game which ranks fifth in Class AAAAA behind Thomas County Central (53.2), Hughes (45.7), Jackson County (45.0) and Rome (44.7). Senior quarterback Grant Moore has thrown for 2,119 yards and 22 touchdowns. Junior running backs Josiah Gibbons and Nigel Gardner should both go over the 1,000-yard mark on Friday. Gibbons goes into the game with 999 yards rushing while Gardner has carried for 991. Gardner has scored 14 touchdowns while Gibbons has seven rushing scores. Senior tight end and Florida commit Heze Kent leads BHS receivers with 30 receptions for 542 yards and six TDs while junior wideout Waseem Murray follows with 23 catches for 529 yards and four touchdowns. The BHS defense is allowing 19.75 points per game. Junior linebacker Braylen Johnson tops the tackles chart with 107 total tackles (13.4 avg.). Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Brunswick Exchange Club Fair will be in full swing during the game. The local fairgrounds are adjacent to the stadium and there could be increased traffic in the area before and after the game. ---- Compiled by Kevin Price for GCS Athletics