The Brunswick High Pirates got their 2023 season off to a winning start as they knocked off Camden County 21-17 Friday night at Chris Gilman Stadium in Kingsland. With the victory, the Pirates ran their regular-season winning streak to 23 games. They won all 10 games in the regular season each of the last two years while winning back to back Region 2-AAAAAA championships and also won the final two games on their regular schedule in the 2020 season. BHS also has now won two straight over the Wildcats who opened their season last week with a 23-12 win at home over Columbia. Brunswick defeated Camden 16-10 at Glynn County Stadium last year in the second game of the season for both teams. The Pirates hadn’t recorded consecutive wins over Camden since the 1997-99 teams won three straight over the Wildcats. Brunswick hadn’t beaten a Jeff Herron-coached Camden team until last season. Now, the Pirates have beaten Camden and one of the state's all-time top coaches in back-to-back seasons. Herron won his 300th game in Georgia last week and has 325 wins and only 66 losses in 32 seasons as a head coach with five state titles including three with the Wildcats when he coached them from 2000-12. This is Herron’s second stint with the program and third season back with the team. “It was a weird feeling today how locked in our guys were,” said BHS head coach Garrett Grady, leading the Pirates in his second season at the helm. “If they will prepare this way for every game, this team can be very successful. And hats off to our coaches. Our coaches prepared these guys for two weeks to play these guys, and that’s a good team right there we just played.” Last season, the Pirates had to make a defensive stand deep in their own territory to hold off the Wildcats. On Friday night, the BHS defense had to make one last stop following a lost fumble by the offense when it had the ball on the Camden 2-yard line in the final moments with a chance to put away the game. Camden recovered the loose ball back at the 10 with 2:14 to play. The Wildcats picked up a first down in two plays, but after having the ball first-and-10 at their own 23, they faced a third-and-7 at the 26 when quarterback Mason Robinson overthrew 6-foot-7 tight end Elyiss Williams and the pass was intercepted just beyond midfield by Brunswick’s R’Marion Lamar to end Camden’s chance for a come-from-behind win. “Our defense had our backs,” Grady said. “That’s what we preached to our guys all week, having each other’s back. We had a lot of guys step up. They really care about playing for one another.” Before that lost fumble, the Pirates started their drive at their own 20 after a Camden field goal to pull within 21-17 and a touchback on the ensuing kick. BHS took possession with 8:18 remaining. The Pirates moved out to midfield with the help of a 15-yard face-mask penalty on the Wildcats, and moments later they faced a key third-and-6 play at the Camden 36 with five minutes left. BHS called a timeout before running that play, and then when both teams returned to the field, Camden called another timeout. The Pirates would convert when they snapped the ball, picking up a first down on a pass from J.R. Elkins to Heze Kent that gained 11 yards to the 25. Again, Brunswick would face third-and-7 from the 22 with just over three minutes to go. The Pirates threw to the end zone this time, and the pass was incomplete, but Camden was flagged for pass interference. The penalty yardage resulted in a first down for BHS at the 11-yard line. On the next play, Kent, a 6-5 and 250-pound tight end, carried for 9 yards to the 2. But then on second down, Kent mishandled a direct snap which rolled away and the Wildcats recovered it, giving them a chance to pull out a win and break the Pirates' hearts. Kent had already scored two touchdowns for the Pirates coming out of the backfield. He powered across the goal line for the first one on Brunswick’s first series after the Pirates received the opening kick. His 3-yard scoring run finished off a 10-play, 65-yard drive for the fast-starting Pirates. Kent had already carried on a pair of third downs earlier in the drive, gaining 6 and 12 yards to pick up first downs for the Pirates. The Pirates also scored on their second offensive series after the defense forced a three-and-out on Camden’s first possession and forced a punt. BHS started on offense at its own 49 and needed only four plays to score. Elkins connected with senior wideout Terry Mitchell for a 30-yard touchdown pass, and following McClain Finneran’s extra-point kick, the score was quickly 14-0. The Pirates’ double-digit lead was short-lived, though. Camden’s Ja’Marley Riddle, a senior committed to East Carolina, sped away from the BHS kicking team for a 96-yard return that got the home team on the scoreboard. Brunswick went up 21-7 early in the second period following an interception around the BHS 45 by Jashawn Towns who returned the ball to the Camden 40. The Pirates would use nine plays to score for the third time when Kent plowed across the goal stripe on fourth-and-goal from the 1. Again, the double-digit lead was short-lived. Camden anwered in three plays with Jaden Dailey scoring from 7 yards to close out a quick 65-yard drive by the Wildcats. A play earlier, Jordan Hardy took a handoff 58 yards to put Camden deep in BHS territory. The Wildcats missed an opportunity to possibly tie the score before halftime. They reached the BHS 9, but a delay penalty and then another penalty against the Camden sideline moved the home team back to the 19. A third consecutive penalty for a false start put the Wildcats back on the 24. Then, after a penalty against the Pirates for a late-hit on the quarterback moved the ball to the 12, a Camden pass sailed through the end zone, and the Wildcats elected for a 29-yard field-goal try with 1.9 seconds left. The kick was no good as time expired in the half and BHS went to the locker room up by the 21-14 tally. Camden’s 26-yard field goal with 8:18 left in the game was the only score after halftime. The Wildcats marched from their own 35 after a BHS punt down to the Brunswick 12, but a chop block that wiped out a run to the 2-yard line put Camden back on the 24 and the home team would settle for the field goal. The Pirates will be back in action next Thursday when they host Winter Park (Fla.) for their home opener. Camden will also come to Brunswick next week to face Glynn Academy at GC Stadium on Friday. -- Report compiled by Kevin Price for GCS Athletics