Why does he try and force eye contact?

Depends what you mean by FORCE. Does he like shout out to you for pointless things and then hold eye contact? Or just glance at you a lot and hold eye contact? If its the first one, then he just wants attention from you, probably because he really likes you and is a little bit lost on what to do. If its the second one, then he likes you, yes, BUT he once again doesn't know what to do. On the 2nd one though, its more likely he wants you to notice him and go over and say hi or something.