Robinson leads Upson-Lee to win over Perry

The Upson-Lee Knights got their first GHSA Region 2-4A win Friday night as they took care of Perry 31-7. Upson-Lee jumped out to a 17-0 lead at the half, and two quick touchdowns in the third quarter put the game away.

Upson-Lee had 384 yards of total offense, while limiting Perry to 190, and most of those yards were on two big plays — a 54-yard run by Perry quarterback Damion Bagley and a 66 yard touchdown run by Jay Watkins.

Markevious Robinson scored three touchdowns while rushing for 114 yards to lead the way for Upson-Lee.

Three who mattered

Kalen Puckett: The Upson-Lee quarterback, who is a four-year starter, rushed for 103 yards and passed for another 90 to keep the offense moving the entire game.

Robinson: The senior running back injured his ankle in a preseason scrimmage against Jones County and made his debut a week ago in Upson-Lee’s loss to Mary Persons. But he was a factor against Perry from the start, running over three defenders on a 17-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He had another bullish 25-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter and then capped his night with a 6-yard scoring run late in the third quarter.

Upson-Lee defense: Led by Travon Walker, who also caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Puckett, Lazavier Moore, Demarquez Carter and CJ Barron, the Knights’ defense held Perry to 77 yards in the first half and 113 in the second half. The Knights’ lost their shutout on Watkins’ late run.

Observations

Strong start: Upson-Lee was shut out a week ago against Mary Persons but scored twice in the first quarter Friday night. The Knights took advantage of a short field and Robinson scored from 17 yards out, and the next time they had the ball, Puckett found Walker twice in a row, the first for a 25-yard gain and then for a 21-yard touchdown.

Out of a jam: Perry had Upson-Lee backed up at the beginning of the third quarter and seemed to have a little momentum. But facing a third-and-28, Puckett rolled to pass, could not find a receiver and took off for what ended up as a 43-yard gain. Robinson scored from 25 yards out a play later to make it 24-0.

They said it

Upson-Lee head coach Tommy Parks on the win: “Every region game is a dog fight for us because there is so much parity in the region, and this one was very important.”

Parks on Robinson: “He is a big part of this football team, and we need him on the field. He looked like he has recovered from the high ankle sprain he had, and it is good to have him back on the field.”

Parks on the performance: “We have to let our offense be our defense, and we have to be able to run the football in this league, because this league is filled with great defensive teams.”

Puckett, a Georgia State baseball commitment, on his long run early in the third quarter: “It was a designed pass, but when I got to the corner, I saw that I had some room. I just took off and tried to get as much as I could out of the play, and it worked out great.”

Puckett, a senior, on getting the team’s first region win: “The seniors made the playoffs for the first time last year, and we all want to have that feel one more time. A lot of us have been playing together since we were 5 years old, and we really want to push and see what we can do one more time. We know we have to get on a roll, and we really needed to win this game.”

What’s next?

Upson-Lee travels to Perry on Friday, while Perry travels to Spalding.

This story was originally published October 14, 2016 at 11:07 PM with the headline "Robinson leads Upson-Lee to win over Perry."