NEWNAN — The Valdosta Wildcats gave it all they had against the fourth-ranked Newnan Cougars Friday night, but in the end, it wasn’t enough.

Newnan outscored Valdosta 21-0 in the second half, and knocked the Wildcats out of the state football playoffs in the first round with a 28-9 win Friday night at Drake Stadium.

The Wildcats (7-4) led 9-7 at halftime, but a costly mistake gave Newnan (11-0) the momentum it needed midway through the third quarter.

After going three-and-out on its first possession of the second half, Valdosta lined up to punt. Russ Newbern’s snap sailed over punter Tyler Yelito’s head and rolled into Valdosta’s end zone. Yelito picked up the ball in the end zone, but instead of falling on it and giving up a safety, which would have tied the game, Yelito ran with it and was tackled at the 2-yard line. Two plays later, Newnan’s offense ran it in for a touchdown to take a 14-9 lead. It proved to be the go-ahead score.

“What would have been the best thing to do is to be tackled (in the end zone),” Tomberlin said. “We’ve talked about that, but (Yelito) thought he could get some decent yardage. I thought he was going to punt it on the run, but it just didn’t happen. That was huge. It was a huge momentum shifter. I’m not blaming the kids. We have to do a better job of coaching them up on that.”

With the air let out of the Valdosta sidelines, Newnan was able to take control of the game. The Cougars only needed five plays on their next possession to go 66 yards and score another touchdown. Quarterback Lendell Arnold hit receiver Jamal Ransby in the flat, and Ransby made Valdosta safety Dontavis Sapp miss on his way into the end zone from 19 yards out to make it 21-9.

The dagger came early in the fourth quarter in a span of two plays. Alec Ogletree, Newnan’s all-world safety, intercepted Chad Prain’s pass, then Newnan running back Nick Hill took a handoff on the next play and raced 53 yards for a touchdown to put Newnan up 28-9.

While Newnan’s offense came to life in the second half, the Wildcats couldn’t manage a scoring drive against the Cougars’ vaunted defense all night. The Cougars came into the game having posted five shutouts in 10 games. They didn’t get a shutout, but they held the Wildcats out of the red zone the entire second half.

“We moved the ball,” Tomberlin said. “(Newnan) was like our 1-AAAAA defenses. They were pressuring us. I’d be willing to bet we had as many first downs as they did. They’re good. They’ve got five shutouts. That doesn’t happen by accident.”

Newnan took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter with an 81-yard drive that was capped off by an 8-yard touchdown pass from Arnold to Zander Ogletree. The big play on the drive was a 56-yard run by Christopher Robinson.

The Wildcats answered the Cougars on the next play. Malcolm Mitchell took Newnan’s kickoff and returned it 92 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. Zach Wang missed the extra point, and Newnan led 7-6.

The rest of the first half was dominated by the Wildcats. Newnan had three three-and-outs in the first half and a turnover. Robinson’s 56-yard run on the Cougars’ scoring drive accounted for 68 percent of Newnan’s offense in the first half.

With 18 seconds left in the first half, Wang atoned for his missed extra point by booting a 40-yard field goal that just cleared the crossbar to give the Wildcats a 9-7 lead.

“I thought we were playing real hard, and with great effort,” Tomberlin said. “I thought, at halftime, we’d win the game. One thing certainly didn’t cause us to lose.”

Arnold led the Cougars on offense, completing 10-of-13 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored Newnan’s go-ahead touchdown on the 1-yard run.

Newnan finished with 269 yards, 187 of which came in the second half.

Prain led Valdosta’s offense, completing 16-of-24 passes for 107 yards. DaShay March didn’t take any snaps at quarterback, but he was a big part of the offense. He rushed 13 times for 42 yards. He was close to breaking several big runs, but Newnan always managed to get a hand on him.

The Wildcats finished with 174 total yards.

Now that Valdosta’s season has come to an end, several questions surround the football program. Valdosta has the option of playing in Class AAAA for the next four years, or it can petition the Georgia High School Association to play in Class AAAAA. The school has roughly a month to make that decision.

Also, there are the questions surrounding Tomberlin’s job. He was told by Dr. Bill Cason, Valdosta City Schools’ superintendent, four days after the Winnersville Classic that his contract would not be renewed. However, the Valdosta Board of Education has not voted Tomberlin out yet. The Board of Education will meet on Monday to discuss personnel issues, and the issue of reclassification for Valdosta High. The meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Valdosta City Schools’ Central Office at 1204 Williams Street.

When asked how badly he wants to be back at Valdosta next year to coach what will be a senior-laden team, Tomberlin said, “I want to (return) very, very badly. I’m not going to beg for my job, but I’m certainly going to fight for it.

“I love this group of kids, this group of coaches. I’d very much like to be back.”

Newnan moves on to face M.L. King in the second round of the playoffs next week.