By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics The Brunswick High Pirates won easily as anticipated Friday night, sailing to a 63-0 victory over Islands in their annual Homecoming game at Glynn County Stadium. Installed as 42-point favorites this week by the Maxwell Ratings, the Pirates scored touchdowns on each of their nine offensive possessions in the game which was played with a running clock in the second half. Brunswick led 49-0 going into halftime which allowed for a continuous clock during the final two quarters by rule. A running clock is optional in the third period if a team has a 30-point lead. The coaches have to agree to let the clock run. A continuous clock is mandatory with a 30-point lead in the fourth quarter. “We wanted to get reps, get as many blue jerseys into the game as possible,” said BHS head coach Garrett Grady. “We wanted to play a clean game, but still had some penalties and missed tackles that we need to clean up.” With the win, the Pirates are now 2-1 on the season. Next up is the City Championship Game next Friday against Glynn Academy. The game also will be the Region 2-AAAAAA opener for both local teams. The Red Terrors are 3-1. They had a bye-week this week. Islands remained winless on the season. The Sharks are 0-5 and now have been shutout twice in their first five games. Brunswick has played Islands three years in a row, winning the games by a combined count of 153-6. The Pirates’ last shutout was their 49-0 triumph last year over the Sharks in the fourth game of the season in mid-September. In Friday’s shortened game, the Pirates put up some big numbers as they paraded into the Islands end zone each time they had the ball. Brunswick picked up 23 first downs while racking up 532 total yards on offense. The Pirates rushed for 310 yards with several players carrying the ball while passing for 222 yards with two quarterbacks throwing passes. Freshman Nigel Gardner ended up as Brunswick’s leading ground-gainer with 70 yards on six carries. Starting running back William Heck finished with 54 yards and Jamarious Towns ran for 43 yards on two carries with both of his attempts going for touchdowns early in the game. Towns had not played since leaving the season opener at Camden with an injury. “It was good to get him back,” Grady said. “He looked fine tonight.” Senior quarterback J.R. Elkins had an efficient night throwing the ball as he was a perfect 7-for-7 for 173 yards and a touchdown before taking the rest of the night off after the Pirates’ first five drives. Sophomore quarterback Grant Moore directed the next three possessions for the Pirates and was 4-of-5 passing for 49 yards with a touchdown passing and another running. Senior wideout Terry Mitchell had four catches for 120 yards to lead all BHS receivers. Mitchell caught a 31-yard scoring pass from Elkins on Brunwick’s fifth series of the game. Mitchell has touchdown catches in each of Brunswick’s first three games. Before halftime, the Pirates’ scoring drives covered 61, 44, 86, 52, 62, 42 and 26 yards. BHS ran 24 plays on those seven combined drives. Brunswick’s first five scoring drives averaged a minute in length as the combined drive time for those opening five possessions added up to exactly five minutes of game clock. Heck scored from 22 yards on Brunswick’s second snap of the night after BHS took the opening kick. The Pirates’ first play was a 44-yard gain to the Islands’ 17-yard line on a pass from Elkins to Mitchell. Towns scored the next two BHS touchdowns on runs of 9 and 34 yards to give the Pirates a 21-0 lead less than nine minutes into the game. The score moved to 28-0 before time expired in the first quarter on a 23-yard run by freshman Waseem Murray on the second play of a quick 52-yard drive. Brunswick’s final three scores in the first half came on the pass from Elkins to Mitchell just moments into the second quarter, a 10-yard pass from Moore to Murray and then a 2-yard run by Moore. After halftime, the Pirates, who were substituting freely, blocked a field-goal attempt by the Sharks to keep the shutout intact. Tavion Gadson blocked the kick for BHS. Brunswick would then cover 83 yards in three plays with Gardner ripping off a 20-yard run for a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, Tristan Tootle intercepted a pass for the Pirates who would get the ball for the last time at their own 36. The Pirates marched the 64 yards in nine plays, using more than five minutes of clock before Gardner scored for the second time from 3 yards away. McClain Finneran made all nine of his extra-point tries in the game for the Pirates. Chris Kimp, a sophomore defensive back, also intercepted a pass for Brunswick. Islands lost its starting quarterback, senior Amaree Bedgood, to an injury early in the game. The Sharks finished with 164 passing yards but only 143 total yards due to lost-yardage plays. The Pirates were flagged for 87 yards in penalties. Grady noted that the Pirates played close to 100 players in the game. Next week’s game against Glynn is set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. BHS is the away team for this year’s game.