The Brunswick High football team entered Chris Gilman Stadium Friday with a 22-game regular season winning streak on the line.
The Pirates left the Camden High School football stadium in Kingsland extending its regular-season winning streak to 23 games with a 21-17 victory over the Wildcats.
Brunswick took the opening kickoff down the field with an opening drive of 10 consecutive runs from scrimmage, ending with a 3-yard score by Heze Kent. Coach Garrett Grady said the opening drive set the tone for the rest of the game.
After a three-and-out by the Wildcats, Brunswick (1-0) got the ball at midfield. Quarterback J.R. Elkins tossed passes of 23 and 30 yards to T.J. Mitchell — the last one for a touchdown — to push the Pirates’ lead to 14-0 with 4:17 left in the first quarter.
Camden, 1-1, answered immediately with a kickoff return 98 yards by Ja’Marley Riddle to make it 14-7.
The Pirates opened the first drive of the second quarter on the Camden 40-yard line. The drive appeared to be stalled after the Wildcats stopped Brunswick three times within the 4-yard line before scoring on fourth and goal from the 2-yard line to make it a 21-7 lead.
Camden responded on the following drive three-play drive, capped by back-to-back runs of 58 and 15 yards by Jaden Dailey to cut the Wildcats’ deficit to 21-14.
Camden missed a short field goal as the first half ended.
Both teams traded possessions in a scoreless third quarter. Camden drove down the field on the opening drive of the final quarter to the Pirates’ 6-yard line. But a chop block penalty derailed Wildcats’ attempt to tie the game, forcing a field goal to make it a 21-17 game.
The Pirates fumbled the ball on the Camden 10-yard-line with a little more than two minutes remaining in the game but turned the Wildcats were stopped on fourth down with less than 30 seconds remaining.
Grady said he was proud of his team’s effort in a hostile environment.
“It was a heck of a battle with both teams,” he said. “Our guys never backed down for a second.”
Camden Coach Jeff Herron said he was surprised by the loss because his players practice well during the week.
“We couldn’t do anything right the first half,” Herron said. “It was a disappointing loss. We played awful.”