Photo by Graham Cullen Middletown quarterback Sam Glushakow outruns Walkersville's defense on his way to the end zone in the fourth quarter Friday night.

"Right after we lost, we got on the computer looking at the points," Knights defensive end Will Lyons said. "So we knew what had to happen."

Not only did the Knights have to beat arch rival Walkersville in their regular-season finale, they also needed Winters Mill to lose to Westminster. Both things happened Friday night.

Trailing 14-6 at halftime and looking to shake its reputation as team that couldn't finish games, Middletown took command and rolled to a 42-26 win over Walkersville -- a team vying for the very same playoff spot.

And after the game, news trickled in -- initially in the form of an unconfirmed rumor -- that Winters had lost to Westminster. The rumor was true -- the Falcons fell, 19-18.

With this turn of events, Middletown (6-4) likely clinches the fourth playoff spot in the Class 2A West Region. Heading into this game, the Knights had 48 points and Winters Mill had 54. Just by beating Walkersville , Middletown gets six points for a win over a 2A school plus six bonus points (awarded for each of Walkersville 's wins). The most bonus points Winters Mill can add is two.

Of course, none of this math was known right after Friday's game ended. The final play was a Walkersville touchdown -- Jeremy Musselman tossed a 4-yard pass in the end zone to Joey Zuniga.

Yet Middletown was the team celebrating, realizing it had just wrapped up a huge win and kept its postseason hopes alive. And the Lions slowly walked off the field, having their fine turnaround season end with a loss that likely kept them from claiming their first playoff bid since 2004.

"It felt good to finish a game," Lyons said. "We knew we might not make playoffs, but we did our part."

Taking advantage of Walkersville mistakes was one of the things that helped Middletown on Friday, and Lyons played a vital role.

With the game tied 14-14, Lyons grabbed an interception -- his second in as many games and one of his team's five takeaways on Friday. His return and a 15-yard personal foul put the ball on Walkersville 's 15. On the next play, Middletown 's Koby Cavanagh showed he's a power back, knocking over at least two defenders en route to a 15-yard touchdown run.

Less than two minutes later, the Knights recovered a fumbled punt at Walkersville 's 12. That set up a 10-yard touchdown run from Sam Michels, the speedy running back who's been an offensive spark since returning from a broken collarbone that sidelined him for the first five games.

Michels rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns. He also leaped up with two defenders in the left corner of the end zone and fought to pull in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Sam Glushakow, and he followed that up by catching Glushakow's two-point conversion pass to tie the game, 14-14 at the 7:39 mark of the third quarter.

"We had all the momentum," Michels said. "Once we scored once, we got on a roll."

Glushakow's 29-yard touchdown run on a quarterback keeper up the middle gave the Knights a 35-14 lead with 11:01 left. But Middletown knew better than to breathe easy.

Earlier this season, it saw a 20-point fourth-quarter lead disappear in a loss to Tuscarora, and the Knights saw a late lead vanish when Catoctin scored two touchdowns in the final minute of last week's loss.

"Catoctin and Tuscarora, they were both tough games. We felt we could've won both of them, we just didn't finish," Lyons said. "This whole week, we've been focusing on finishing games."

The Lions seemed destined to dominate early. The Knights had trouble containing Musselman, who threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Brian Schultz in the first quarter and a 64-yard touchdown strike to speedy Jose Depadua in the second quarter.

But the Lions wouldn't score again until Musselman broke numerous tackles on a 44-yard run, cutting Middletown 's lead to 35-20 with 6:53 left in the fourth quarter.

"We had opportunities to get up early," Walkersville coach Ryan Hines. "We left points out on the field in the first half, and they took advantage of mistakes we made in the third quarter."

Pat Ryan made two interceptions for the Knights, and Middletown recovered two fumbles.

"They tried to hit all of our weaknesses from the week before, they put a nice gameplan together," said Middletown coach Kevin Lynott, whose team was victimizes by passing and an onside kick last week -- things the Lions tried Friday. "I'm very proud of our kids adjusting to that."

Lynott knew this was a quality win against a good team. The Lions emerged as one of Frederick County's top teams this season.

"That's what we told them, this was supposed to be a turnaround year. We went from 3-7 to (6-4). Is 6-4 where we want to be? No. But did we improve from last year? Yeah. We have a lot to build on next year."

The Lions return Depadua and Quentin Ezell, two of the area's top running backs this season, as well as four-fifths of their offensive line. But they lose Musselman, one of the area's top quarterbacks. He had another big night, completing 17 of 32 passes for 337 yards.