Kickoff A look at Brunswick High’s next game: Opponent: Effingham When: 7:30 p.m. Friday Where: Glynn County Stadium Video Stream/Radio: continentalsports.com, 107.7 FM Records: BHS 9-0, 5-0 Region 2-AAAAAA, ranked No. 8; EHS 7-2, 5-0 Last year/All-time: BHS won 21-18. BHS leads all-time series 15-11 Game Preview Friday’s game between the Pirates and Rebels will decide the Region 2-AAAAAA championship and also the No. 1 seed from the region for the upcoming state playoffs. The Pirates are unbeaten on the season, having won all nine of their games coming into the season finale. BHS is also ranked No. 8 in the state by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Effingham is 7-2 overall. The Rebels started the season with losses in their first two games against Richmond Hill (14-0) and Burke County (28-10) but have won their last seven games including all five of their region games just like the Pirates. Last season, the Pirates and Rebels also met in the final game of the regular season with the region title and top seed for the playoffs on the line. Brunswick won last year’s matchup 21-18 in Springfield to claim the region crown. With last season’s victory at Effingham, the Pirates also completed a perfect 10-0 regular season. It was the first unbeaten season for the Pirates since 1999 when Brunswick went to the Class AAAA state championship game. Again, the Pirates have a chance to finish perfect in the regular season if they can knock off the Rebels Friday at Glynn County Stadium. A victory also would be the 22nd in a row during the regular season for the Pirates who won their final two regular-season games back in the 2020 season before winning all of the games on their schedule a year ago and then their first nine this season. Securing the No. 1 seed for the state playoffs is also a huge plus for the winner on Friday. The region champion is guaranteed to play at home in the first round and also the second round if it can win its opening playoff game. The No. 2 seed is guaranteed to play at home only in the opening round next week. Also worth noting is that the loser of Friday’s game between the Pirates and Rebels would likely have to host powerful Lee County in next week’s first round. An upset-victim in its last two Region 1-AAAAAA games, Lee was ranked No. 2 in the state all season until falling 23-20 to Northside (Warner Robins) on Oct. 21 when the Eagles returned a fumble in the closing seconds for a touchdown and then stumbling again last week against then-No. 3-ranked Thomas County Central when turnovers doomed the Trojans in a 39-30 loss. Brunswick comes into Friday’s game averaging 37 points a game while giving up 11.78 points a game. The Rebels are scoring 26 points a game while allowing 13.22. In the region, the Pirates defeated Glynn Academy 55-21, Grovetown 56-39, Lakeside-Evans 44-10, South Effingham 42-3 and Evans 28-7 in that order. As for Effingham, the Rebels topped South Effingham 29-3, Glynn 31-14, Grovetown 28-14, Evans 35-22 and Lakeside-Evans 27-7. Brunswick’s offense features a deep running back corps. The team’s leading rusher sophomore Jamarious Towns who has carried for 598 yards and four touchdowns in seven games after missing the Pirates’ first two games of the season. He is followed closely by fellow sophomore William Heck who has rushed for 525 yards and five TDs. Also, for the Pirates, senior Jayden Drayton has rushed for 365 yards and six scores while senior Ivan Johnson, a starter in the secondary, has carried for 439 yards and four touchdowns. Brunswick’s quarterback, J.R. Elkins, has passed for 1,235 yards and 17 touchdowns. The junior is completing 55 percent of his passes and has thrown six interceptions. His targets in the passing game include Drayton who has 15 catches for 287 yards and three touchdowns and senior Kevin Thomas who also has 15 receptions for 219 yards and three scores. The leading receiver is junior Terry Mitchell who has 33 catches for 766 yards and 10 touchdowns. Top defensive players for the Pirates include senior nose guard K’Shawn Thomas who is committed to Wake Forest, senior linebacker Lionel Twitty and senior defensive back Keon Leggett. For Effingham, junior quarterback Nathan Hayes makes the offense go. Hayes has thrown for 1,433 yards and 12 touchdowns while running for another 314 yards and a touchdown. The Rebels’ leading rusher is junior Jayden Evans who has carried for 876 yards and seven TDs. Four receivers have at least 10 catches for the Rebels. Senior Keion Wallace, a 6-foot-3 major-college prospect who also is a basketball standout, leads the receiving corps with 24 receptions for 454 yards and eight touchdowns. Another senior receiver, Timmy Brown who is also 6-3, averages 23.4 yards a catch and has five TD grabs. BHS head coach Garrett Grady is in his first season in the lead role for the Pirates after previously serving as the team’s offensive coordinator. John Ford is in his second season with the Rebels. He was previously a head coach at Roswell and Buford.