VALDOSTA — Valdosta High dodged a bullet Friday night, scoring a fourth quarter touchdown to avoid an upset by Jonesboro.

Tim Kier’s 12-yard touchdown run with 8:35 left in the game gave Valdosta its first lead of the night, and the Wildcats held on to win 14-10 at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

Valdosta (3-0), the No. 5 team in Class AAAAA, was the clear favorite coming into Friday’s Homecoming game against a Jonesboro team that was just 3-7 last season. But Valdosta head coach Rick Tomberlin had a bad feeling about this game, and his fears proved to be well-founded.

“I’ve been coaching a long time, and sometimes you feel that coming,” Tomberlin said. “I told (my wife) Angela and I told the coaches, ‘I think we’re in for a real fight.’ I don’t think there was anything wrong with our effort or our preparation. It’s just sometimes you’ve got to get hit in the mouth to wake up. We’ve got a fine football team, but we’ve still got a long way to go, and we’ve got to go quick.”

“I’m proud of (Jonesboro head coach) Clint Satterfield, my former player,” Tomberlin added. “He did a good job coaching them up. He told me that was the best game they’d ever played.”

Valdosta’s go-ahead touchdown was set up by a blocked punt. The Wildcats brought a heavy rush on Jonesboro punter Eric Cheney, and smothered the kick. Valdosta took over at the Cardinals’ 20.

“Coach (Bart) Shuman made a good call when we went after that punt and blocked it,” Tomberlin said. “That’s what helped us win the game.”

On second down, Valdosta quarterback Kyle Rowe handed to Kier out of the shotgun. The senior found a hole in the line, broke through, and beat a defender to the goal line for the score. John Mark Stephenson’s extra point gave the Wildcats a four-point lead, 14-10.

But Valdosta still had to hold on. After the Wildcats missed a 30-yard field goal, Jonesboro took over on the VHS 20 with less than two minutes left in the game. The Cardinals kept the drive alive when quarterback Cliff Crews hit Eric Herkley with a 27-yard pass on third-and-10. A controversial pass interference call against Valdosta — on a play where cornerback Terry Belcher flattened the receiver as the ball touched his hands — moved the ball to the Wildcat 38.

But Crews’ final four passes fell incomplete, including a Hail Mary on the last play of the game, and Valdosta escaped.

“I’m real glad this one’s behind us,” Tomberlin said. “Jonesboro did a good job against us. They’ve got some athletes.”

Valdosta had its struggles on offense, particularly when it moved the ball into Jonesboro territory. While the Wildcats amassed 328 yards of total offense, they shot themselves in the foot on more than one occasion while they were driving.

“Key penalties at key times hurt us, and the inability to throw the deep and intermediate passes,” Tomberlin said. “We could run the ball, we could throw the short passes, but when we got in third-and-15, we didn’t get it done. We’ll work on that this week.”

Valdosta running back VaShun Johnson did his part, though, rushing for 149 yards on 20 carries, with one touchdown. Kier added 84 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.

The Wildcat defense was pretty dominant for most of the game. They held the Cardinals out of the end zone — Jonesboro’s lone touchdown came on an interception return — and limited their flexbone option attack to just 59 yards rushing on 29 carries.