Columbus Blue Devils humbled in loss to Upson-Lee

In Columbus’ season-opening win over Jordan, Blue Devils quarterback Donovan Carter did a little bit of everything. In Friday’s game against Upson-Lee, Carter learned he can’t do it all.

Carter spent a good portion of his second game for Columbus running for his life in a 43-19 defeat. In addition, the Blue Devils running game — which played a major role in the Week 2 win — was stymied through all four quarters.

The issues for Columbus (1-1, 0-0) were in large part due to the competition. Columbus head coach Phil Marino said going into the game that it would be a tough task stopping junior defensive lineman Travon Walker and the other Knights defenders. That challenge proved too much, as time after time Carter was sent scrambling, or his running backs were hit in the backfield.

“Their defensive line was a lot better than our offensive line,” Marino said. “If we can’t protect Donovan, then he’s not going to be able to do a lot. He still did a lot of great things without the protection. We’ve got to do a better job blocking.”

To Columbus’ credit, the Blue Devils stayed within striking distance of Upson-Lee (2-0, 0-0) for most of the game.

The Blue Devils offense struggled through most of the first half but found itself back in the ballgame before halftime. Carter showed off his running ability on the Upson-Lee goal line, causing a would-be tackler to jump up as Carter ran by for a 4-yard score. Carter added Columbus’ second score with less than a minute left before halftime, finding Mike Ramsey on an 85-yard touchdown pass.

Columbus’ last signs of life came about midway through the fourth quarter. Carter led the Blue Devils down the field and delivered a pass from the 20-yard line to Ian Rome, who caught the ball, shook off a Upson-Lee player and scored to make it a 29-19 contest.

From there, it was all Upso-Lee.

The Carter-to-Rome touchdown came directly after Carter was sacked for a loss of 13 yards, illustrating that the offense had potency but lacked consistency. Marino praised the junior’s efforts in keeping play after play alive.

“If we could have just given him a little bit of time to throw the football, we could have been effective,” Marino said. “We’ve just got to go back to work and get ready for Callaway.”

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 7:43 PM with the headline "Columbus Blue Devils humbled in loss to Upson-Lee."