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For a while it looked like Forestville would finally get to celebrate a playoff victory against Dunbar, but the Poets pulled away for a 34-25 win after Forestville had rallied to take a seven-point lead with 7 minutes, 1 second left in the game.

"I knew that Dunbar had beaten Forestville in the playoffs three years in a row," said Forestville junior running back Rahmann Lee, who rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns. "Half of the team are seniors, all of them have lost to Dunbar before, every single one of them, and this was the year that we would beat Dunbar. And we had them beaten, it just slipped through our hands."

Dunbar senior running back Nathan Ayers Jr. rushed for 338 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Poets (10-1) into the 1A South Region final next week against top seed Forest Park (10-0).

Dunbar has won six state championships since 1994 and seven consecutive regional titles. This is the fourth year in a row that Dunbar eliminated Forestville from the playoffs.

The Knights (5-5) had reason to hope this year might be different. Tavon Austin, the key player for the Poets the past three years, is now a running back at West Virginia University. Also, Dunbar entered as the No. 2 seed and had struggled in a few regular season games.

Forestville took a 12-0 lead in the first half. Lee didn't touch the ball on the Knights' first two series, but he was the only ball carrier on their third. He rushed four times for 57 yards, scoring on a three-yard carry for a 6-0 lead with 2:25 left in the first quarter.

"We knew what Forestville was going to bring, they bring a [quality] football team," Dunbar coach Lawrence Smith said.

Dunbar continued to struggle on offense and punted on its next drive. Forestville mounted a 10-play, 64-yard drive that ended with a Rowan Pinkett 5-yard touchdown run with 8:08 to play in the second quarter for the 12-0 lead.

It was after that score, however, that Dunbar switched offenses. Quarterback Evan Pittman came off the field and Ayers took over as the quarterback in the Poets' "wild-owl" offense – their version of the Wildcat. The owl is the logo for the Dunbar Poets.

Ayers scored on a 42-yard touchdown run with 2:22 left in the half. He had 102 yards rushing at halftime.

"I knew that was coming, we just didn't do a good job of defensing that at all," said Forestville coach Charles Harley.

Dunbar narrowed its deficit to 12-10 on a safety when defensive end Darian Scott sacked Forestville quarterback Antonio Belt with 10:09 left in the third quarter. After the ensuing free kick, Ayers broke off a 67-yard touchdown run to give the Poets their first lead, 18-12.

Forestville wasn't ready to quit, even after its next drive ended after four downs. The Knights held Dunbar, then had a 13-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a Ricardo Smith-to-Antonio Wood touchdown pass. Jessie Lopez's extra point made it a 19-18 Forestville lead with 9:36 left in the game.

On the next series, the Knights' defense and a 15-yard penalty forced Dunbar into a third and-23 situation. Pittman, the Poets' quarterback, came onto the field for the only time since they made the switch to the "wild-owl" and tossed an interception.

Forestville's Belt picked it off and ran it back 47 yards to the Dunbar 4-yard line. Lee scored on the next play to extend the lead to 25-18 with 7:01 left in the game.

It didn't take Dunbar long to recover. Two plays later Ayers scored on a 33-yard touchdown run and also completed the two-point try for a 26-25 lead with 6:20 to play.

On the next series, the Knights gained only 3 yards and lined up to punt on fourth down. However, the ball sailed over punter Belt's head and by the time he recovered it in the end zone Scott was there to record his second safety of the game and extend the lead to 28-25 with 4:20 left in the fourth quarter.

Ayers scored again on a 20-yard run with 3:57 to go, giving Dunbar a 34-25 lead. Ayers had eight carries of 20 yards or more, and has 2,021 yards and 22 touchdowns this season.

"Ayers is a fine-tuned machine," Smith said. "He's the first one in the weight room and the last one to leave."

1A South Region Semifinal

DUNBAR 34, FORESTVILLE 25

Game played: Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 2 PM at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

Teams (record) 1 2 3 4 Total

Forestville (5-5) 6 6 0 13 25

Dunbar (10-1) 0 8 10 16 34

F – Lee 3 run (kick failed)

F – Pinkett 5 run (run failed)

D – Ayers 42 run (Ayers run)

D – Safety - Scott tackles Belt in end zone

D – Ayers 67 run (Ayers run)

F – Wood 26 pass from Smith (Lopez kick)

F – Lee 4 run (run failed)

D – Ayers 33 run (Ayers run)

D – Safety - Scott tackles Belt in end zone

D – Ayers 20 run (run failed)

TEAM STATS F D

Punts-Avg 4-28.0 2-27.5

Penalties-Yards 11-100 10-78

First Downs 14 13

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 3-1

RUSHING LEADERS – F: Lee 27-152, Pinkett 4-20, Presson 5-3, Miller 1-2, Burton 1-1, Belt 6-(-7), Smith 2-(-16). D: Ayers 22-338, Highsmith, 6-86, Quarrie 5-15, McManus 2-5, Pittman 3-0.

PASSING LEADERS – F: Smith 2-7-1-67, Belt 1-4-0-4. D: Pittman 2-7-1-19.

RECEIVING LEADERS – F: Belt 1-41, Wood 2-30. D: Scott 1-12, McManus 1-7.