Butler facing challenge in Hollidaysburg’s physicality
BUTLER TWP — Hollidaysburg is bringing many of its same players to Butler this Friday that the Tigers lined up with against the Golden Tornado last season.
But they’re bringing a different attitude this time.
“They seemed a little passive when we played them last time,” Butler coach Eric Christy said, referencing the Tornado’s 40-20 road win last year. “Those kids have grown up a lot. They seem much more aggressive this year.
“Their line is absolutely huge. We’ll be giving up a lot of size up front.”
Butler (2-1) is taking a two-game winning streak into Friday’s game with the Tigers (1-1). Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
“We have Erie next week and that’s like a playoff game for us,” Christy said. “Going into that one with a three-game winning streak would be big for us. But we have to play better than we’ve been playing.
“Hollidaysburg has a very good team.”
The Tornado are coming off a 38-0 victory over Brashear, the first shutout of Christy’s head coaching career. The Tigers were scheduled to play State College last week, but the game was called due to bad storms in the area.
Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said his team was on the field for warm-ups before the game when the bad weather rolled in.
“That was disappointing,” DeLattre said. “You hate to miss out on playing a game like that.”
The Tigers lost to Allegany (Md.), 30-23, in their second game after defeating Altoona, 21-13, in the opener. The team uses two quarterbacks in Drew Wyland (15 of 25 for 202 yards) and Maddox Blainey (9 of 21 for 131). Wyland has also rushed for 246 yards and three scores.
No other Hollidaysburg player has more than 38 yards on the ground so far this season.
Caden DeLattre has 11 catches for 175 yards, Jay Albarano four for 64. Both have a touchdown reception.
“We run multiple option sets, use a lot of RPO with our quarterbacks,” Coach DeLattre said. “We’ve got a big, physical line and try to use that to our advanbtage.”
A pair of juniors, Hunter Albright and Wyatt Maines, are getting Division 1 looks up front. Albright is 6-foot-5, 318 pounds and has made visits or is slated to visit Penn State, West Virginia, Maryland and Pitt. Maines is 6-5, 262, and has a visit scheduled with Penn State.
Christy said it’s concerning the Tigers did not play last week.
“We would have loved to see the film of that game because State College is really good,” the Butler coach said. “Now it’s like they’re coming in here coming off a bye.
“Their defense attacks and uses different fronts. It’s hard to figure out what we’ll be looking at there.”
Marcus Vicari had a pair of interceptions in the end zone for the Tornado last week, preserving the shutout. Butler has been getting stellar play from its linebacker position as Allen Crispin leads the team in tackles. Terrell Holderman has three quarterback sacks on the campaign.
Nathan Fulmer, a senior guard, is the Tornado’s Lineman of the Week.
Braylon Littlejohn, who missed the latter portion of the Brashear game with a minor injury, is expected to play this week. He has rushed for more than 100 yards in successive games and leads the Tornado with 269 yards rushing. He’s thrown for 127 yards and two scores.
“Braylon will likely start the game behind center for us,” Christy said. “Noah Ritchie has still been repping there and will probably see some time. We want to keep working on our ground game.”
Landon Lacey and David Graef continue to be the Tornado’s leading rushers and receivers. Graef has 156 combined yards running and receiving, Lacey 230.
“Littlejohn will be the best athlete on the field and the fact he’s lining up at quarterback is a concern for us,” DeLattre said.
