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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — ONLY ONE, BUT A BAD ONE: Florida quarterback Chris Wallace threw only one interception in Saturday’s 48-33 playoff loss at Tennessee Valley, but it was damaging. Desmond Foster picked off Wallace’s pass and scored to give the Vipers their first lead of the game, 21-20 with 3:25 remaining in the first half. Wallace finished with 266 yards on 25-of-41 passing with four touchdowns. He rushed for another.

FLAGS EVERYWHERE: The game didn’t come without flags. Florida was penalized 70 yards on 11 penalties. Tennessee Valley was flagged nine times for 63 yards.

THEY SAID ...Tennessee Valley defensive back/wide receiver Travis Blanchard scored with time winding down in the third quarter to give his team a 41-27 lead. He said the Vipers wanted the fast start Florida got. The Firecats jumped out to a 20-7 lead.

“We tried to come out and get a fast start, but it didn’t jump off like that,” Blanchard said. “We just told ourselves, ‘Keep pressing on, we’re going to wear these guys down.’”

FIRST TIME: Florida advanced to the playoffs for the seventh straight time, but was ousted in the first round for the second straight season, the first time that has happened in franchise history. It was the first road playoff game in four seasons.

SECOND PLAYOFF MEETING: Tennessee Valley’s win avenged its loss in the rivals’ only other playoff meeting, Florida’s 62-58 win in the 2004 conference semifinals.

DAMAGING BLOW: The Vipers took a 28-20 halftime lead in dramatic fashion. With five seconds on the clock, Maurice Brown caught a pass from quarterback Kevin Eaves. Two keys helped him race 44 yards to the end zone. Brown caught the pass and faked a lateral, then near the 10 yard line on the other end, he used a block on former Viper Carlos Campbell, who didn’t see the hit coming.

“(Alonzo) Nix made a good block on me,” Campbell said. “I didn’t see it coming. Other than that, I would have made the tackle. Stuff like that happens.”

FOR A REASON: Saturday night’s performances showed why Florida quarterback Chris Wallace, an eight-year veteran, and receiver Magic Benton own the leagues touchdown passes and catches marks. Wallace also owns the completions mark.

Of Wallace’s 266 yards, 175 went o Benton, who caught 14 of Wallace’s 25 completions and scored twice. His longest catch was 28 yards, the longest completed by Wallace.

Benton, also an eight- year vet, returned from a brief retirement in the second half of this season.

SPEAKING OF THE SECOND HALF: After a 6-0 start to 2008, Florida (10-7) managed only three second half victories, all against lowly – and league departing - Daytona Beach (2-14). The last win prior to that came on May 24 against South Georgia.