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With its back to the wall after an

0-3 start, the Forestville Military Academy football team has taken control of the season and has put itself in position to make the state Class 1A playoffs.

In one of the biggest victories in coach Charles Harley's 11-year stint with the team, the Knights upended a formidable Frederick Douglass squad, 22-20, Saturday afternoon.

After its fourth-consecutive victory, the Knights' 30-man roster has shown considerable resolve.

"It feels good," said senior captain Antonio Belt. "In the first half, I feel I didn't play as good as I could have. I let Douglass get in my head. The second half I told coach, ‘I got you, I got you' and, I'll make sure I'll win this game for you. In the second half, he put the ball in my hands and I kept the team pumped and I ran the team."

The victory had a special significance for Harley. In two consecutive weeks, the Knights have defeated Friendly and Douglass, two opponents Forestville has never beaten during Harley's tenure.

After a loss to Riverdale Baptist on Sept. 18, Forestville's playoff chances appeared bleak. The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association ruled the Knights could not play their next opponent, Leonard Hall Junior Naval Academy, because the Leonardtown school's football team includes players who don't attend the school and is essentially a club team.

But Harley said the Knights coaches and players were not ready mail in the season yet. Forestville moved Belt, a standout wide receiver, to quarterback, one of a few changes Harley said changed the tone of the season.

"The Sunday after playing Riverdale Baptist, six of the players, unannounced, came over my house and we sat for two hours talking nothing but football and what we're going to do next," Harley said. "I coach my son's little league team, so I had to leave for practice and bring those players back to the school. But after that, our coaches talked with them on our field until about 8 p.m. that day."

Saturday against Douglass, Belt had a 1-yard scoring run that cut the Eagles' lead to 20-14 in the third quarter. The Knights also converted two second-half fumbles into touchdowns. After Douglass senior Will McKenzie fumbled a fourth-quarter punt, Forestville senior Ricardo Smith scored on a 9-yard run. Rahmann Lee's two-point conversion gave the Knights a 22-20 lead.

Belt completed 3 of 9 passes for 69 yards, a touchdown (a 15-yard throw to Smith in the first quarter) and two interceptions.

"Basically our coach keeps us in the game and just keeps telling us that all we have to do is finish and stay together as a team and not give up," said senior linebacker Reggie Pression.

The loss could prove costly for Douglass, which dropped its second consecutive game after starting the season 6-0. On Saturday, the Eagles will face a struggling Friendly team that has lost four of its last five games. The Eagles then finish the season against Fairmont Heights (1-7). In two weeks, Douglass has gone from a comfortable playoff position in the 2A South Region to needing wins to solidify its spot.

"Right now we have to do the math," Eagles' coach J.C. Pinkney said of the team's playoff chase. "There is a shot [for the playoffs] with McDonough [High] losing [on Friday]. We have to see how it pans out and we'll go from there. We still have an outside shot and we know we're a dangerous team, so if we get a shot and get in there, we'll take full advantage of it."

Junior Taitor Reynolds started at quarterback for the second week in a row in place of injured senior Richard Barber. Reynolds completed two passes for 22 yards. Barber, who suffered a foot injury against Potomac on Oct. 10 and missed the Gwynn Park game last week, played late in the game, running for 18 yards and tossing one incomplete pass.

The lone bright spots for the Eagles were senior tailback Emmanuel Paul (86 yards rushing and a touchdown), and a 96-yard interception return for a touchdown by McKenzie and a 7-yard touchdown run by Scottie Newman.

"We've gotta stay focused because there's only a slim chance [for the playoffs]," Paul said. We just have to get back up and keep it going. We just let them come back we should came out in the second half and went at it like the score was 0-0, but we loafed and let them come back."

Eagles freshman linebacker Matthew Paul, who had an interception, put the game into perspective.

"We just got to make plays and keep on playing," he said. "We just got to move forward and keep our team focused. We started off strong and we're just a little ahead of ourselves."

E-mail Terron Hampton at thampton@gazette.net.