Pirates Finish 10-1 Overall With Second Straight Undefeated Regular Season
Garrett Grady’s first year as the Brunswick Pirates’ head football coach can be defined as a success, even if the season did end a little sooner than everyone expected. A first-round playoff loss to the Houston County Bears is not how Grady, his staff, the players, and of course, the fans were expecting their season to come to an end. Not after an undefeated run through the regular season that saw Brunswick finish 10-0 heading into that fateful opening-round playoff game.
But for Grady, it’s just the start of something bigger.
“It was a tough way to end such a great season with our playoff game, but that doesn’t take away from the legacy that this group of seniors and this team has left behind,” Grady said, acknowledging that when it comes to Class 6A football in Georgia, it’s very hard – if not down right impossible most seasons – to win every game.
Grady said the key was continuing the same approach to excellence that began last season with him as the Brunswick football team’s offensive coordinator.
“This makes back-to-back regular seasons that Brunswick High has gone undefeated,” he said. “The season motto was truly one game at a time, because we knew with our schedule that we had some big matchups and that we couldn’t look ahead or be satisfied with the success we were having. This team also won back-to-back region championships, which is a great accomplishment as well.”
Grady was pleased with the way his team played overall, but he pointed to three games in particular when his team showed what they were made of.
“We had three games this season where we were behind at halftime – against Camden, Bolles, and the playoff game against Houston County – but our team never quit,” he said.
In the Camden game, Brunswick trailed 10-7 at the half after managing just one early first-quarter touchdown. But the Pirates would rally with 9 fourth-quarter points while holding Camden scoreless in the second half to defeat the Class 7A Wildcats 16-10.
The next week, Grady and his Brunswick football team played in the inaugural “Border War” classic, which pitted Georgia teams against Florida schools at Glynn County Stadium. Brunswick faced off against the Bolles School of Jacksonville and trailed the traditional Florida power by a field goal, 3-0. But just as they were able to do a week earlier, the Pirates defense held their opponent scoreless in the second half, and Grady’s offense came up big with another strong fourth quarter, scoring 20 unanswered points to win 20-3.
The Pirates also trailed at halftime of the playoff game against Houston County, by a 14-7 margin. The Bears stretched that lead to two TDs in the third quarter, going up 21-7. But with Garret calling the offensive plays, Brunswick fought back with two TDs, including a late score in regulation to even the game at 21-21. In overtime, Brunswick actually took the lead, scoring first to lead 28-21, only to have Houston County score a touchdown and a 2-point conversion to win by a point. Still, Grady said his team never doubted they could win in every game.
“Our team never quit,” he said. “This group never batted an eye; even when we were down like we were in those games, they stayed positive and focused on the game.”
Looking ahead to his second year at the helm of Brunswick football, Grady said he’s excited about the return of several key members who have helped lead the Pirates to 20 straight regular season victories.
“We will have several key players returning, including on offense our quarterback, JR Elkins, wide receiver Terry Mitchell, and running backs Jamarious Towns and William Heck,” Grady said. “Defensively, we will have linebackers Devin Smith and Jashawn Towns, defensive backs Tyler Sams and Taivon Gadson, and defensive linemen River Creel and Donyea Broughton returning.”
Grady added that the Pirates 2023 schedule would look very similar to this year.
Discussing the biggest difference between being a coordinator and a head coach, Grady said it’s learning to oversee the entire team instead of just one side of the ball, and learning to trust and delegate to the assistant coaches.
“I have a great staff here at Brunswick High,” he said. “They did an amazing job of developing relationships with their position groups and cultivating a family atmosphere for our players.”
