JEFFERSON TWP — Demetris McKnight put on a show.

Matt Goodlin's performance was ended early.

Both scenarios proved key as New Castle rolled to a critical 34-7 Northwest Eight Conference football victory at Knoch Friday night.

The Red Hurricane's McKnight carried 28 times for 162 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a screen pass for a 31-yard score and threw a 59-yard scoring strike to quarterback Michael Wells on a gadget play.

“He's our leader. He's our captain,” New Castle coach Joe Cowart said of McKnight. “We're gonna go as far he takes us. Tonight was his best game of the year.”

The Knights' Goodlin was on his way to similar productivity.

Knoch's senior running back had 76 yards rushing in the first quarter alone. The Knights (5-3, 4-3) took a 7-0 lead when Keith Washiington took a pitch and raced 40 yards for a touchdown with 2:52 left in the opening period.

The play was only Knoch's second of the game that did not involve a handoff to Goodlin. The first resulted in a botched pitch which New Castle's Antonio Ryan recovered to end a Knoch possession at the 'Canes' 16.

Goodlin left the game with an elbow injury with 4:29 left in the half. New Castle had an 8-7 lead at the time. Goodlin did not return to action.

“He's going to have to get that elbow looked at,” Knoch coach Brandon Mowry said. “We're not sure exactly what's going on right now.

“We'll have to wait to see if we have him moving forward.”

Wells' screen pass to McKnight and conversion pass to Donny Cade gave New Castle (5-3, 3-2) its 8-7 lead. A 50-yard Wells touchdown pass to Jason Williams with 1:12 left in the half increased the lead.

The play began as a reverse before the ball was tossed back to Wells, who found Williams wide open deep. Berbie Fabian, normally a lineman, ran for two points and a 16-7 New Castle lead at the half.

“McKnight is just a great athlete,” Mowry said. “We thought we had him bottled up a few times and he'd squirt loose.”

New Castle added three touchdowns in the second half. McKnight ran for the first one and threw for the second one.

Julian Klingensmith iced the game with a 19-yard scoring run with 7:25 remaining.

“Knoch makes you play a four-quarter game and our kids did that,” Cowart said. “It was a shame seeing Goodlin go down like that. That kid is a tough, tough player.

“That's two key backs and defenders they've lost this year.”

The Knights lost wingback James Johnston to a knee injury earlier in the season.

Goodlin's 77 yards Friday give him 1,016 for the season.

Knoch drove inside New Castle's 30 on five different possessions without scoring. The Knights lost two fumbles, turned it over on downs twice and Justin Tristani was short on a 35-yard field goal attempt.

“When we were rolling earlier in the year, we were finishing drives,” Mowry said. “These last few games, we haven't been doing it.

“We need to finish the season strong. We owe it to our seniors to keep playing hard.”

Knoch could have clinched a WPIAL Class 4A playoff berth with a win Friday. Now the Knights are done with conference play.

“We have to wait and see how everything shakes out,” Mowry said.

Washington took over Goodlin's position after the latter's injury and wound up running for 102 yards. The Knights ran a more conventional offense rather than their triple-option once Goodlin went out.

Jared Schrecengost recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass for Knoch, which travels to Trinity next Friday.

The Knights honored their seniors before Friday night's game, the team's final home game of the season.

New Castle 0 16 6 12 — 34

Knoch 7 0 0 0 — 7

First Quarter

K — Keith Washington 40 run (Justin Tristani kick), 2:52

Second Quarter

NC — Demetris McKnight 31 pass from Michael Wells (Donny Cade pass from Wells), 11:30

NC — Jason Williams 50 pass from Wells (Bernie Fabian run), 1:12

Third Quarter

NC — McKnight 14 run (pass failed), 5:11

Fourth Quarter

NC — Wells 59 pass from McKnight (run failed), 9:13

NC — Julian Klingensmith 19 run (kick blocked), 7:25

Individual Statistics

Rushing: New Castle, Michael Wells 5-19, Demetris McKnight 28-162, Will Blackshear 2-(-4), TEAM 1-(-5), Julian Klingensmith 4-73. Knoch, Kam Grassi 10-17, Matt Goodlin 17-77, Keith Washington 13-102.

Passing: New Castle, Michael Wells 5-9-114-1, Demetris McKnight 1-1-59-0. Knoch, Kam Grassi 3-8-48-1.

Receiving: New Castle, Demetris McKnight 2-39, Jason Williams 2-58, Donny Cade 1-17, Michael wells 1-59. Knoch, Scott Fraser 2-25, Joey Wojciechowski 1-23.