McDowell marks 4th straight powerful opponent for Golden Tornado football team
BUTLER TWP — Despite a 40-14 loss, Butler’s football team proved something to itself last week.
“We showed we can play with a top-flight opponent for two quarters,” Golden Tornado coach Eric Christy said of the loss to Cathedral Prep. “Now we have to do it for four.”
Butler will have an opportunity to do exactly that Friday night when defending District 10 Class 6A champion McDowell rolls into Art Bernardi Stadium for a 7 p.n. kickoff Friday night. The Trojans (6-2) have lost only to North Allegheny and Cathedral Prep.
McDowell has defeated Butler (4-4) three times in the past two years, including wins of 38-21 and 40-21 — the latter being the District 10 title game — last season. The Trojans topped the Tornado, 45-7, in 2020.
“They’re an outstanding team again this year,” Christy said. “They were leading North Allegheny in the fourth quarter before NA scored two late touchdowns to beat them. That an indicator as to where their program is at.”
NA defeated McDowell, 29-18. The Trojans’ 41-0 loss to Cathedral Prep was preceded by wins of 52-14 over Erie and 48-6 over Varsity, then followed by victories of 49-19 over Meadville and 61-0 over West Toronto Prep the past two weeks.
“I don’t even want to talk about that Prep game,” McDowell coach Brad Orlando said. “We were missing a couple of key players, but tat was one of those nights where, from the first play, everything went wrong for us.
“I feel like we’ve straightened things out since then.”
The Trojans are led by running back Artis Simmons, who rushed for 1,025 yards and eight touchdowns through six games. Quarterback Ben Moore threw for 777 yards and eight touchdowns, rushed for 249 yards and five TDs during those games.
“They are better at running the ball than throwing,” Christy said. “That’s only because they run the ball so well. Simmons runs straight downhill.”
Ray Jackson, a running back last year, has moved to receiver this season and leads McDowell with 24 catches for 264 yards. Christian Santiago, who lines up behind center at times, is a fullback-tight end who has been effective in a dual role.
McDowell is averaging 50 points per game in its six victories.
“We’ve moved some personnel around to take advantage of players’ talents and it’s been working out for us,” Orlando said.
Cooper Cousins, a 6-foot-6, 310-pound senior tackle, anchors the Trojans’ offensive line and is committed to Penn State. Senior middle linebacker Carson Hardik leads the defensive unit, along with senior linebacker Troy Peterson, the team’s leading tackler.
“They like to blitz a lot and teams have been doing that to us a lot,” Christy said. “We have great skilled players and opponents try to disrupt that attack by getting after the quarterback.”
Mac Schnur has thrown for 1,298 yards and 16 touchdowns for the Tornado, but he has thrown 16 interceptions as well. Dashawn Cox has rushed for 447 yards and caught 30 passes for 354 yards.
Braylon Littlejohn has 18 catches for 240 yards, Ayden Davis 14 for 190 and Ryan McLister 10 for 193. David Graef has a combined 307 yards rushing and receiving.
“They were even with Prep through two quarters, so we know they can play,” Orlando said. “We had some good games with them last year. Butler plays hard, Littlejohn is extremely talented at receiver and their quarterback is an athletic kid who can run.
“We’re anticipating a good football game.”
Butler is trying to snap a three-game losing streak. Its previous three opponents are 18-6 so far this season.
“Ian Wilson missed last week because he’s been banged up,” Christy said of the receiver-cornerback. “We expect to get him back. Ayden is still questionable. Our line is getting healthy again and we’re counting on our depth there.
“This is a chance for us to go 2-0 in league play. It’s a big one for us.”
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