McGoldrick does the trick for Castle

Told just before kickoff that he would start at quarterback for the first time this season, Jeremy McGoldrick sparked the Castle offense as a triple-threat in a 30-16 win over Nanakuli on homecoming night in Kaneohe.

In his surprise start behind center, McGoldrick — a standout wide receiver the past two seasons — ran for 156 yards and a touchdown, threw for 237 yards and two scores and caught a touchdown pass when he returned to his more customary role at receiver in the fourth quarter.

“I didn’t even know I was starting until right before the game,” McGoldrick said. “I practiced at quarterback only two days this week and right before the game Coach told me I was starting.”

With the win, the Knights (3-4, 2-4 OIA Red) snapped a four-game skid and clinched a spot in the OIA Division I playoffs, taking the pressure off of their regular-season finale at Kailua on Oct. 1.

Nanakuli (0-7, 0-6), which moved up from Division II, will close its transition year in Division I at No. 5 Kapolei on Friday.

McGoldrick was initially listed as Castle’s backup quarterback last season before emerging as a big-play receiver for the Knights. He entered Friday’s game having attempted one pass with six rushing attempts in the Knights’ first six games.

On Friday night, he handed the ball to Israel Pakele on the game’s first two snaps for gains totaling 29 yards. McGoldrick kept it on the third play and broke loose around the left side. He cut back to the middle and raced 63 yards for the game’s first touchdown.

“I’ve always been a scrambling quarterback when I was younger, so it was natural,” McGoldrick said.

Primarily a running threat through the first quarter, McGoldrick showed off his arm in the second period and threw touchdown passes to Kawai Naki and Makana Smith — who caught nine passes for 163 yards — to give Castle a 20-6 lead going into halftime.

McGoldrick went into the break with 144 rushing yards and 11 completions in 20 attempts for 193 yards.

Castle fumbled on its first two possessions of the second half and Nanakuli closed to 20-14 when Banks hit Joey Vea-Quitog.

But Castle answered with a 10-play drive led by Jaylen Uyemura-Lee, who threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to McGoldrick to give the Knights breathing room again.

“I remember we lost our homecoming game by one point (last year) and that was my main focus, not letting that happen again,” McGoldrick said.

Nanakuli quarterback Nainoa Banks finished with 325 passing yards, the second-highest total in Nanakuli’s history.