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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The fourth meeting of the season between Florida and Tennessee Valley was everything it was supposed to be between the South Division rivals.

The No. 4-seeded Vipers scored 41 of the final 54 points in a 48-33 win in the opening round of the 2008 af2 American Conference playoffs.

“Tough loss for us,” Florida coach Kevin Bouis said. “We had three interceptions nullified by penalty. We shot ourselves in the foot. In the second half, we just couldn’t muster anything offensively.”

Tennessee Valley (11-6) won its third straight against the Firecats (10-7) this season.

Florida quieted the noisy crowd of 2,699 early on, jumping out to a 20-7 lead following Magic Benton’s second touchdown of the game on the opening possession of the second quarter.

The Vipers stormed back though, scoring the next 21 points to take a 28-20 halftime lead.

The teams didn't score in the second half until the 6:35 mark of the third when Gary Elliot ran it in from seven yards out for his second score and a 34-20 Tennessee Valley lead.

Florida cut it to 34-27 on the ensuing drive on a 19-yard Chris Wallace pass to Ethenic Sands, but the Vipers scored four minutes later on Travis Blanchard’s 2-yard run to regain a 41-27 lead.

Perhaps the final sting, Tennessee Valley held on Florida’s first fourth down of the fourth quarter and scored on Elliot’s 14-yard reverse for a 48-27 lead.

“That was tough,” Bouis said of the stop. “If we score, we’re within one possession. We get a stop, we’re right back in it.”

Instead, Elliot scored the final of his three touchdowns on the night. Alonzo Nix had nine catches for 96 yards and a score to lead the Vipers. Quarterback Kevin Eakin completed 18-of-28 with a pick and three scores.

Former Tennessee Valley DB Carlos Campbell, one of three former Vipers in uniform for the Firecats, should have had a bigger stat sheet. He had the three interceptions Bouis referred to, four if you count one off the wall that was called incomplete.

“It seemed like every time I made a play, we just couldn’t catch a break,” said Campbell, who had four break-ups. “Sometimes that’s how the game goes, but it gets frustrating because you know how hard it is to make stops.”

The last of the Vipers’ first-half scores came in dramatic fashion. After a fourth-down stop with five seconds to play in the half, the Vipers pulled off an improbable 44-yard touchdown pass from Eakin to Maurice Brown.

“The big touchdown right before the half hurt us,” Bouis said. “It was tough, but we knew we got the ball coming out and we could tie it up right out of the gate. We just couldn’t muster anything offensively.”

Wallace and Benton were on target early in the game. Wallace was 15-of-23 at the break with 155 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Benton had 12 of those grabs for 129 yards.

The league’s all-time touchdown passing leader finished with 266 yards on 25-of-41 passing with four touchdowns and one interception. Benton’s final numbers included 14 catches for 175 yards and two scores.