Kickoff A look at Brunswick High’s next game: Opponent: Lakeside-Evans When: 7:30 p.m. Friday Where: Glynn County Stadium Radio/Video Stream: 107.7 FM; continentalsportsnetwork (YouTube) Records: BHS 6-1 overall, 5-0 Region 1-AAAAA; LE 7-0, 5-0 Last week: BHS defeated Statesboro 49-0; Lakeside defeated Effingham 58-38 (Monday). Last year/All-time: BHS won 46-22; BHS leads overall 4-1 Game Preview Brunswick High and Lakeside-Evans are meeting in a battle between unbeaten teams in Region 1-AAAAA. And their meeting Friday night likely will decide the eventual region champion and top seed from the region for the upcoming Class AAAAA state playoffs. Following their game, both teams will only have two league games left on the schedule and both the Pirates and Panthers will be heavy favorites in those remaining region contests. Brunswick will be off next week before closing the regular season with games at South Effingham and Bradwell Institute which have only won one region game between them going into their meeting Friday night in Hinesville. The Panthers, meantime, will play Bradwell next week, and then after an open date, will finish out the season with a game against Statesboro. Bradwell currently has one region win while Statesboro has two. Every team in the region other than Brunswick and Lakeside has at least two losses in league play coming into this week. Thus, the winner between the Pirates and Panthers on Friday can even afford to lose one of its final two league games and still be awarded the league title and top seed when all is said and done. That’s because the winner of Friday’s game would have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the other if the two teams were to end up tied for the top spot in the standings with one region loss each. Brunswick, which is ranked No. 9 in the latest Class AAAAA rankings, has not lost since the season opener against Camden County. The Pirates are looking to claim their third region championship in four seasons with this year’s title. BHS won the region in both 2021 and 2022 when the team had a actually perfect regular-season record those years. The Panthers have never started a season 7-0. Their seven straight victories this season matches the school’s longest-ever winning streak. Lakeside has not won a region title since 2009 when the Panthers captured their first and only league championship. Their coach then was Jody Grooms who would leave after that season to become the head coach at Wayne County. Brunswick remains one of the highest-scoring teams in Class AAAAA, averaging 42.7 points a game to rank fifth in scoring in the state’s second-largest class going into Week 10 of the season. The Pirates average almost 191 yards passing a game and 324 rushing yards a game to churn out 515 yards a contest. Junior quarterback Grant Moore (1,257 passing yards) directs the offense which includes the potent ground attack featuring a stable of running backs. Senior William Heck is the leading rusher with 882 yards on the ground for the season. Receiving targets include senior Jamarious Towns, sophomore Waseem Murray and junior tight end Heze Kent who leads all BHS scorers with nine total touchdowns. Senior quarterback Ty Jones is the straw that stirs the drink for the Panthers. He stands just 5-foot-8 and weighs only 140 pounds, but he plays big. Jones, also a star guard for the school’s basketball team, has passed for 725 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 802 yards and seven touchdowns. He also has two interceptions and two punt returns for touchdowns this seasons. In Lakeside’s region opener against Evans - a 21-0 victory for the Panthers - Jones finished with 343 all-purpose yards. Against Effingham on Monday, Jones carried 12 times for 133 yards and also threw for 152 yards and a touchown. Monday’s game was tied 38-38 going into the final quarter before Lakeside ran away by scoring the last 20 points. Also for the Panthers, brothers Brandon and Mikeal Grissom are play-makers on offense. A standout to watch for the Lakeside defense is senior middle linebacker Jack Thexton, also a tight end for the Panthers. He is 6-1 and weights 225 pounds. Top players for the BHS defense include senior linebackers Jashawn Towns, Caleb Butler and Jeremiah Robbins and junior defensive back Aviyon Addison. ----- Compiled by Kevin Price