BRUNSWICK – The Bradwell Institute Tigers learned why opponents have elected to avoid getting into a shootout against the Pirates on Friday at Glynn County Stadium.
The teams traded a flurry of jabs in the opening period, but Brunswick High never stopped punching, crumpling Bradwell Institute into a heap as it rolled to 60-14 homecoming victory.
The Tigers (2-4, 2-3 Region 1-5A) entered the contest with their most region wins since 2018, and they looked prepared to challenge for more early in their matchup against the first-place Pirates (6-1, 5-0).
Brunswick got on the board first on a 4-yard rushing touchdown from Heze Kent, but a missed extra point opened the door for Bradwell to take the lead with a score of its own on the ensuing drive.
On the Tigers’ first play from scrimmage, quarterback Jahbari Felix dropped a deep ball in perfectly to Carlito Savea for a 49-yard gain into Pirate territory. A few plays later, Cameron Keeve took a pitch and danced through the Brunswick defense for an 18-yard touchdown run that put Bradwell up 7-6.
The Pirates went back in front 13-7 on a 40-yard bomb from Grant Moore to Waseem Murray with 3:09 in the first quarter, but it wouldn’t take the Tigers long to prowl back into the red zone before Felix found Da’Wahyne Chatman alone in the end zone on a 17-yard touchdown throw.
After the extra point, Bradwell Institute went up 14-13 with 25 seconds remaining in what had already been an action-packed first quarter. But by halftime, the Tigers found themselves facing an insurmountable 47-14 deficit.
Brunswick erupted for 34 unanswered points in the first half, beginning a 66-yard kick return by Aviyon Addison that set up Kent’s second 4-yard touchdown plunge of the contest, giving the Pirates the lead back at 19-14 with eight seconds still in the opening period.
From then on out, it was all Brunswick.
Bradwell Institute racked up 130 yards of total offense in the first quarter, but the Tigers would only manage 32 more yards over the remainder of the game while allowing the Pirates to repeatedly march down the field with little resistance.
Felix was responsible for more than 70 percent of Bradwell’s offense as a runner and passer through the first five games this year, but he was subdued by the relentless “Black Flag” defense of Brunswick.
The Tigers went three-and-out on three of their final four full possessions in the first half, and they moved the chains just once on the other drive.
Meanwhile, the Pirates continued to light up the scoreboard — a 21-yard touchdown run by Brody Marshall increasing the lead to 26-14 fewer than two minutes into the second quarter. When Brunswick got the ball back, it took just one play for Moore to hook up with Isreal Henry on a 55-yard scoring pass.
The Pirates went to the ground game on their next possession, and after consecutive penalties set the team back 35 yards, Josiah Gibbons broke a 46-yard touchdown run to push the advantage to 40-14.
Penalties were one of the few areas where Brunswick wasn’t nearly flawless after the first quarter. Both teams combined for close to 150 yards in penalties in the first half alone, and the flags didn’t let up after halftime.
The penalties wouldn’t bite Brunswick against Bradwell though. The Pirates sailed 80 yards in the waning minutes of the second quarter to go up 47-14 on a 39-yard touchdown catch by Dontre Butler with 17 seconds remaining on the clock.
If the game wasn’t over at that point, it was when the Pirates came out and forced another quick three-and-out to open the second half. A pair of passes to Henry later and Brunswick was back in the end zone.
Ziyan Rankin stepped in front of one of Felix’s passes on the ensuing drive, giving the Pirates the chance to go for 60 with plenty of time remaining in the third.
The Pirates were unstoppable offensively, racking up nearly 450 total yards by the time they had built a 60-14 lead on Nigel Gardner’s 26-yard scoring scamper. Gardner finished with 119 rushing yards while Gibbons added another 82 yards on the ground.
Moore’s night came to a premature end in the third quarter with him 9-of-12 passing for 203 yards and four touchdowns. Henry was the leading receiver with three catches for 94 yards and two scores.
Kent, a four-star tight end committed to Florida, only caught one pass for seven yards, but he tallied two sacks in his first start on the defensive line in addition to his two touchdown runs.
The Tigers are off this coming week and will return to action October 17 against South Effingham.