BUTLER TWP — When it comes to North Hills, Butler's football history isn't too pretty.

In fact, it's downright ugly.

The Golden Tornado (1-1, 0-0) take on the Indians (2-0, 1-0) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Martorelli Stadium trying to break a 13-game losing streak against the team.

Those aren't the only negative numbers:

• Butler has been outscored by North Hills 255-16 in their most recent eight meetings.

• The Tornado have been shut out in their last four meetings — 34-0 in 2010, 38-0 in 2011, 14-0 in 2012 and 49-0 last year.

• North Hills has won 29 of 35 games against Butler all-time.

None of the above numbers bother first-year Butler coach Rob Densmore in the least.

“We've already separated the Butler now from the Butler then,” Densmore said. “These aren't even the same systems. The kids who are back from last year are playing different positions than they played before.

“When you play North Hills, you have to be ready to play physical football. You have to handle things at the line of scrimmage. We've been playing that type of football since our first scrimmage against Woodland Hills.”

Last week, Butler was able to reap the fruits of its labor, rushing for more than 300 yards while limiting Baldwin to 34 net rushing yards on 26 attempts.

Damien Pickett had 29 carries for 276 yards and two touchdowns for Butler. Robert Burdine added a touchdown on the ground. Pickett leads Butler County ball carriers with 40 carries for 360 yards after two weeks.

“The Baldwin game was huge for us in terms of confidence,” Densmore said. “We've been preparing for a night like that since I got here. If the kids didn't believe it before, now they know they have the ability to play football that way and get it done.”

North Hills has built a tradition out of winning football games the way Densmore wants Butler to do it, with a stingy defense and ball-control running game.

“They get a lot of backs involved and they make you earn what you get,” Densmore said. “We're going down there to compete. That's one of the great high school football venues in Western Pennsylvania.

“There's no reason why we can't match up physically and play with them. North Hills is bigger than us up front, but Baldwin was bigger than them — and Baldwin had that 300-plus pound Penn State recruit.

“North Hills' kids will be more physical and more athletic, so we will have to step up our game. They like to keep you playing behind the sticks,” Densmore added.

The Tornado have gotten plenty of production defensively.

Linebackers Jeremy Hanford and Lucas Dubyak lead the team in tackles, Tim Vernick had a pick-six last week, JJ Johnson and Mike Snow have multiple quarterback sacks.

Butler's passing and punting games have been slow to develop, but Densmore saw improvement in both areas last week. Jamison Smith has completed 6 of 17 passes for 51 yards and Devin Fitz averages 32.2 yards per punt.

“Devin improved his punting over the first week and he continues to work hard at it,” Densmore said. “He's a work in progress and he'll keep getting better.

“Jamison was much better last week. He was more poised and managed our offense well. We hit one big play in the passing game (31 yards to tight end Rob Kunst) and that will develop into a weapon for us.”

Friday's game will be Butler's Northern Eight Conference opener.

“It's still early. We can — and will — improve in a lot of areas,” Densmore said.