Late in the first half, Tift’s Tommy Johnson recovered a fumble at the Valdosta 18. The Blue Devils made it to the 12, but West missed a 29-yard field goal, and the score remained tied at halftime.

Valdosta’s offense managed just 10 yards rushing on 29 carries, in large part because Tift’s defense made 12 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Valdosta quarterbacks Kyle Rowe and Chad Prain were a combined 5-for-20 passing for 71 yards.

“I thought we played great on defense. I thought we had a good gameplan on offense, but we dropped a few passes, and that hurt us,” Tomberlin said.

Valdosta’s best scoring chance came late in the game, when cornerback Odell James returned an interception down to the 15. But the Wildcats fumbled the ball away on the next play. Also, midway through the second quarter, a 31-yard pass from Rowe to Jay Rome and a 12-yard run by Phillip Moore moved the ball to the Blue Devil 31. But the Wildcats wound up turning the ball over on downs.

Valdosta will host Houston County at 7:30 p.m. next Friday in its final game of the season. It will be Senior Night at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.