The Radford Rams spoiled Castle’s senior night with a 33-24 win over the Knights on Friday night at Castle High School.

In the process, Radford hit a much-needed refresh button for the season.

The Rams entered their regular-season finale with six losses in six tries. Not only did the Rams rally for their first win of the season, they also clinched the No. 3 seed in OIA Division I Pool B and secured an OIA playoff berth.

“That’s what the playoffs are all about. That’s why you fight and crawl and scratch to make the playoffs, regardless of your record,” Radford coach Fred Salanoa said about making the playoffs and “refreshing” the season record. “It’s a great opportunity for our young men to prolong their season and continue playing. I’m happy that we finished our regular season with a victory, and hopefully that can carry us on into the playoffs.”

Trailing 14-13 at halftime, Radford turned the game around in the second half, outscoring the Knights 20-10, including the final two touchdowns of the game to clinch the win.

“I just let the team know that we have confidence that if they played the right football that we’ve been teaching them, we should be able to put ourselves in situations to be successful,” Salanoa said about the second-half turnaround. “It’s a credit to our players and our coaches for continuing to believe and fight through adversity and come out victorious.”

“Coach fired us up. He came in and told us we just had to do our job, and that’s what we came out to do,” Rams running back Wendell Harrison added. “We came out and executed every play after that.”

Harrison was a dual-threat star for the Rams, finishing with 216 total yards and three touchdowns. Harrison carried the ball 14 times for 152 yards, along with the three touchdowns. He also added a team-high 64 receiving yards on three catches.

“I’m feeling great. I can do this all day,” Harrison said about his big day.

Radford quarterback Afi Togafau completed 16 of 29 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns. Michael Robinson (51 yards) and Tyrese Miller (49 yards) each caught a touchdown pass from Togafau.

Ezekiel Totten led Castle with a game-high 163 yards on 24 carries. Knights quarterback Nai Kalauokaaea threw for 168 yards with a pick on 11-for-27 passing.

Radford and Castle traded scores on sustained opening drives.

The Rams drove 68 yards on eight plays, ending on Togafau’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Robinson. Castle matched that with a 68-yard drive of its own. It took the Knights 13 plays, with Totten scoring the equalizer from 4 yards out.

Hoping to push the momentum, the Knights recovered a successful onside kick. The next play nearly went for a touchdown, but Castle quarterback Nai Kalauokaaea’s well-thrown pass was dropped by his receiver with nothing but green in front. The rest of the drive didn’t go much better, as the Knights finished with negative yardage after a quick three-and-out.

Radford drove to Castle’s red zone on the first drive of the second quarter, but the Rams failed to score on four straight plays inside the 10-yard line and turned it over on downs. Pinned back on its own 5-yard line, Castle found some room to work with after Nai Kalauokaaea’s 53-yard pass to Logan Thompson. The big play set the Knights offense in motion, and they drove down to Radford’s 6-yard line. Kalauokaaea faked out the Rams and scored on a 6-yard quarterback keeper.

True to the back-and-forth nature of the first half, Radford answered the Castle score with an 8-play drive that ended on Harrison’s 1-yard touchdown run. The Rams had a chance to score back-to-back touchdowns after Jacob Sullivan intercepted Kalauokaaea’s pass. Nothing came of that, however. After a dropped touchdown in the end zone, Togafau misfired on three straight passes from the 8-yard line to bring up the halftime break.

Totten scored on a 4-yard carry to kick off the second half, but his score was quickly matched by Harrison’s 2-yard touchdown as Radford closed the gap to 21-20. Aztin Pitt hit a 21-yard field goal on Castle’s next drive, but those turned out to be the last points of the game for the Knights.

The Rams took over the rest of the game. Togafau connected with Miller for a 22-yard touchdown throw, then Harrison finished the game off with a 83-yard touchdown run to make it 33-24.

“It was great for the team,” Salanoa said about the win. “The coaches and the players have worked hard. Especially during fall break. When all the kids were at the beach or barbecuing and going on trips with their family, our kids committed themselves to coming to practice every single day. It’s been a long season for us. We’re in a division that some say we don’t belong in. But our players are very resilient in the way they do things. They keep on coming and they keep on fighting. It was a great win for the team tonight. Especially with all the hard work that the assistant coaches have been putting in along with every single player on our team.”

Radford will take on OIA Division I Pool A No. 2 Leilehua in the first round of the OIA playoffs.

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At Castle

Radford (1-6, 1-5) 7 6 7 13 — 33

Castle (1-5, 0-5) 7 7 7 3 — 24

RAD—Michael Robinson 20 pass from Afi

Togafau (Luke Barner kick)

CAS—Ezekiel Totten 4 run (Aztin Pitt kick)

CAS—Nai Kalauokaaea 6 run (Pitt kick)

RAD—Wendell Harrison 1 run (kick blocked)

CAS—Totten 4 run (Pitt kick)

RAD—Harrison 2 run (Barner kick)

CAS—Pitt 21-yard field goal

RAD—Tyrese Miller 22 pass from Togafau (run failed)

RAD—Harrison 83 run (Barner kick)

RUSHING—Radford: Harrison 14-152, Togafau 6-31, Kellen Fortson 6-13, Jacob Sullivan 1-3, TEAM 1-(minus 1). Castle: Totten 24-163, Nathanael-Seth Rombawa 1-35, N. Kalauokaaea 7-32, Riddik Enos 2-8, Jaris Quisano 1-5, Malae Tini 1-4.

PASSING—Radford: Togafau 16-29-0-227. Castle: N. Kalauokaaea 11-27-1-168.

RECEIVING—Radford: Harrison 3-64, Robinson 3-51, Miller 2-49, Sullivan 2-42, Jacob Barner 3-16, Fortson 2-5, Joel Gillies 1-0. Castle: Logan Thompson 2-67, Totten 4-54, Trisen Kalauokaaea 2-21, Ryder Kapuwai-Mapu 2-19, Enos 1-7.