Ninth-ranked Brunswick used a punishing ground attack to rally from an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat Greenbrier 21-14 in a Region 1-AAAAA contest on Friday night, Sept 20.
The visiting Pirates (3-0, 4-1) were led by a trio of running backs in William Heck, Nigel Gardner and Josiah Gibbons. Heck finished with 91 yards on 20 carries, Gardner had 91 yards on eight rushes and Gibbons had 78 yards on 11 carries. Brunswick finished with 321 yards in total offense, with 298 coming on the ground.
Gardner had a 32-yard touchdown run with 8:57 left in the third quarter—and the Pirates made the two-point conversion on a nifty pass play to tie the game at 14—and Gibbons added a 21-yard TD with 7:41 to play in the fourth to propel the Pirates to the one-score victory.
The Wolfpack missed a late field goal and then could not get the ball back as the Pirates kept the ball on the ground and ran out the clock.
“There, at the end, we wanted to protect the football and stay inbounds,” said Brunswick Coach Garrett Grady. “We were going to lean on our offensive line.”
Greenbrier junior quarterback Brayden Stephens led the well-prepared Wolfpack (1-1, 2-2) with 205 yards passing on an 11-of-18 night and 50 yards rushing. Stephens engineered two nice drives to open the game, and the Pack went up 14-0.
“I think the kids came out focused,” said Greenbrier Coach Sean Tiernan. “We were efficient in the first quarter. We just didn’t do it for all four quarters.”
Stephens had an outstanding first half, completing seven passes in nine attempts for 130 yards and two touchdowns, both to wideout Ryan Clayborn. The first came on a 13-yarder with 8:19 left in the first quarter and the second on a 34-yarder with 3:11 left in the quarter. Lavaughn Simon added the PAT kick after both Greenbrier touchdowns for a 14-0 bulge.
The Wolfpack quarterback also had 34 yards rushing in the half on just four attempts, as the Greenbrier spread offense kept Brunswick’s defense off balance.
“Brayden made some good decisions,” Tiernan said. “He was doing a good job pre-snap and post-snap.”
The Pirates’ high-flying offense attempted some fireworks early in the game, but they had two bombs that were incomplete deep in Greenbrier territory.
Yet Brunswick did get on the board when quarterback Grant Moore found Israel Henry in the right flat, and Henry did the rest for a 12-yard touchdown with 8:11 left in the first half. However, the PAT kick failed, and Greenbrier held a 14-6 lead.
Each team had late interceptions in the half to stop potential drives, keeping the Wolfpack up eight heading to the dressing room.
After Brunswick tied the game in the third quarter, Greenbrier drove down all the way to the Pirates 21-yard line. However, a 15-yard personal foul penalty thwarted that drive.
Brunswick countered with a 10-play, 85-yard drive that led to Gibbons’ 21-yard scoring run. Landon Ethridge kicked the PAT for the 21-14 lead.
There was plenty of time for a Greenbrier comeback. Of course, the Wolfpack needed to mount a drive to stop the Pirate momentum. Stephens, despite taking some tough hits from a physical Pirate defense, did just that with a march all the way to the Brunswick 14. However, the drive stalled there, and Tiernan decided to attempt a field goal and hope his defense could get the ball back one last time.
The 31-yard attempt by Simon was wide left, but a penalty marker was thrown on the play. At first, the referee called illegal substitution on the Pirates, but after a short officials’ conference, the flag was waved off.
Brunswick took over on downs with 4:25 to play and proceeded to run out the clock.
“Greenbrier is much improved,” said Brunswick’s Grady. “They took some things away from us in the first half. Coach Tiernan is doing a great job. They are on the right track.”
Brunswick will play Glynn Academy on Sept. 27, while Greenbrier will travel to Bradwell Institute.
David Bulla is a communication professor at Augusta University.
