BUTLER TWP — Safe to say, Butler travels by ground, not by air.

In their two wins thus far in 2014, the Golden Tornado rushed for 721 yards. In their two losses, they've run for 151.

Now Butler (2-2, 1-1) hosts Seneca Valley (0-4, 0-3) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Art Bernardi Stadium in a battle for the Butler Eagle Traveling Trophy — and a move down the right path toward the playoffs.

“Everyone can see how the standings are shaping up in our (Northern Eight) conference,” Butler coach Rob Densmore said. “This game has huge playoff implications.

“Seneca Valley is the best 0-4 team I've seen in a long while and they're getting healthy at the right time. They're coming in here needing to win and their quarterback (T.J. Holl) is back to playing to full game. They've had a lot of bad luck with turnovers. We're going to have our hands full.”

Butler has not gotten its hands on the Eagle Trophy since 2006, having dropped seven straight games to the Raiders. The Tornado still lead the all-time series, 15-14.

“Neighborhood rivalries are always great and when there's a trophy on the line, it's an added bonus,” Densmore said. “It'd be a wonderful thing for our kids to grab that trophy. It'd be another momentum boost for the program.”

Butler will get Damien Pickett back to its backfield, the junior missing last week's 42-7 win at Shaler and the final three quarters of the North Hills game with a sprained ankle. He ran for 276 yards in his team's Week 2 win over Baldwin.

Despite Lucas Dubyak (165 yards) and Tim Vernick (120) combining for 285 yards and four touchdowns last week, Densmore anticipates Pickett getting the bulk of the carries Friday.

“Dubyak and Vernick both play defense and Damien doesn't,” the coach reasoned. “It's an opportunity for us to stay fresh on both sides of the ball.”

While Butler has a number of linemen who start two ways, Densmore opts to spell them on defense rather than offense.

“We like the same guys to be out there on the offensive line all of the time. We've developed continuity that way,” he said.

Butler's two-way linemen include Eric Hindman, Mike Snow, Derek Gengler, Zach Seger, Josh McCloskey and Austin McMahon. Gengler has missed a couple of games due to injury and sophomore 265-pounder Steve Beichner has been filling in defensively.

The Tornado have allowed 43 net rushing yards on 45 carries — quarterback sacks included — in their two victories.

“Offensive line coach Bill McElroy is doing an amazing job with those kids and defensive line coach Bill Elliott is taking care of that side of the ball,” Densmore said. “We've been getting a push up front and that's critical.”

Densmore anticipates Seneca Valley and other future Butler opponents putting nine defenders in the box to take away the run. The Tornado failed to complete a pass last week.

“I wish we could have hit on a couple of pass plays and continued to make progress there,” Densmore admitted. “But even though Jamison Smith is a senior, he's a first-year starter at quarterback and that part of the offense takes time.

“We're going to have to make some plays in the passing game to force defenses to back up a little bit. I'm still confident that will happen.”

Smith has completed 15 of 47 passes for 122 yards, one touchdown and five interceptions. The Tornado did not complete a pass last week.

Kelley Kuharic leads Butler with five receptions for 50 yards and the team's lone receiving touchdown.