Twenty-one wins, two region titles and a pair of City Championships over the past two seasons has transformed expectations at Brunswick High School.
On Wednesday, six of the Pirates responsible for producing one of the best runs in program history committed to continuing their respective football careers at the next level during a national signing day ceremony held in the school’s auditorium.
Ivan Johnson signed with West Georgia, Joshua Walker picked Virginia State, Quan Johnson chose Carthage College, Quan Gibson decided on Fort Valley State, and Lionel Twitty and Kevin Thomas both selected Shorter University.
It was quite the class of seniors, which included early signing period participants Jamal Meriweather, Ka’Shawn Thomas and Jayden Drayton. The group produced the most wins the program has had in a two-year span since 1998-99.
“It’s the Pirate standard: We just be winning,” Gibson said with a smirk. “It’s the Pirate standard for us, but we treat it like it’s normal.”
Gibson fueled what little drama there was on signing day, eschewing a spot at Reinhardt University to continue his career at Fort Valley State.
A key piece of Brunswick offensive line that powered the Pirates to 36.2 points per game over the past two seasons, Gibson decided receiving the full HBCU experience was too good an opportunity to pass up.
“At the end, it was just where I felt more at home at,” Gibson said. “Both of them was around the same number, so it was just where I wanted my family to be at. Where I wanted my family around. My family felt comfortable here.”
His fellow offensive lineman Walker had a similar thought process.
The massive offensive tackle felt right at home at the HBCU of Virginia State. Still, that doesn’t make leaving family and friends behind any easier.
“It’s a lot to process; it’s a lot to go through,” Walker said. “I’m going to miss it, for real. Those are my guys. I spent four years with them… I’m going to really miss it, but you’ve got to keep moving forward in life.”
A lot has changed at Brunswick over those four years. The Pirates hadn’t won a region championship since 2009 when the Class of 2022 first started at the high school, and the program was coming off a 3-7 campaign that saw the team miss the playoffs.
Brunswick finished 6-6 the following season, and it’s qualified for the postseason each of the past four years.
“It feels good; we accomplished a lot of things over the time we were here,” said Ivan Johnson. “Winning back-to-back regions really changed it around because coming into my freshman year, we went 3-7, and we changed the whole culture around.”
Ivan Johnson has been a culture setter for the team both on and off the field. A running back growing up, Johnson was moved to the defensive backfield upon reaching Brunswick in an effort to spread out the wealth of talent at the skill positions.
He responded with 156 total tackles over three seasons as the Pirates’ starting safety, spearheading a unit that held opponents to fewer that 15 points per game over that span. Then when Brunswick needed his services this past year, Ivan Johnson returned to running back and cranked out 584 yards and four touchdowns on just 56 carries.
He’ll settle back onto the defensive side of the ball at West Georgia, but he won’t rule out playing running back again one day.
“If a spot opens up maybe,” Ivan Johnson said. “For right now we’re going with safety.”
As things currently stand, Ivan Johnson will have a reunion next season with a few members of his signing class in a Gulf South Conference matchup between West Georgia and Shorter, which secured the duo of Twitty and Thomas.
An outside linebacker, Twitty tallied 56 tackles, seven tackles for a loss and a sack as a senior, as well a crucial fourth-down deflection late in the fourth quarter of a win over Camden. Shorter made sure to bring the talented rusher to Rome.
“They made me feel like it was home,” Twitty said. “They really tried to take care of me.”
There was never a doubt where Thomas would end up after closing his prep career with a season that saw the 6-foot-3 receiver catch 17 passes for 247 yards and four touchdowns.
“It wasn’t really that hard of a decision,” Thomas said. “They stuck with me through the whole recruiting process; they were like the first school to reach out to me, give me an opportunity. So it wasn’t that hard of a decision for me.”
Quan Johnson didn’t make a large impression in the stat book, but the tenacious special teams player has some of his best football still ahead of him.
“I chose Carthage College because I felt like it was the right fit for me,” Quan Johnson said. “They’ve got a good coaching staff, and Coach McCray reminded me of (Brunswick running back coach Kregg Richardson). I’m ready to get up there and ball.”