Butler falls a point short as Erie hangs on for 20-19 win over Golden Tornado
BUTLER TWP — Braylon Littlejohn went out, but Butler stayed in — right to the end.
Butler’s starting quarterback suffered a groin and finger injury while being tackled out of bounds midway through the third quarter Friday night at Art Bernardi Stadium. Senior Noah Ritchie replaced him behind center and the Golden Tornado switched to a Wing-T.
It worked for a couple of touchdowns — but Erie held on for a 20-19 victory.
“I’m proud of Noah. He stepped into a difficult situation and took control of our offense,” Butler coach Eric Christy said.
A 3-yard touchdown run by Adrien Tate — who scored all three of Erie’s touchdowns in the contest — gave the Royals (3-2) a 14-7 lead, Tate running for the 2-point conversion as well, with 3:44 left in the third period.
Landon Lacey scored on a 33-yard run for the Tornado on the final play of the third quarter, but the PAT failed. Tate then capped an 80-yard drive with a 30-yard scoring run and the Royals had a 20-13 lead. Lacey made the tackle on on the 2-point conversion run attempt and Butler stayed within a touchdown.
The Tornado then put together a 12-play, 71-yard drive, Mark Klemz scoring on a 5-yard ruin, to pull within 20-19 with 1:53 left. After a timeout, Christy decided to go for the two points, but Lacey was stopped short of the goal line.
“I just thought the time was right there,” Christy said of the decision to go for two. “We’d been running the ball well. Give Erie’s defense credit. They rose up and stopped the play.”
“I wasn’t surprised they went for two,” Erie coach Andre Henderson said. “I expected it. The way this game was going, back and forth, when you have a chance to win it, you go for it.”
Though their ensuing onsides kick failed, the Tornado weren’t done.
Butler’s defense forced a three-and-out and took possession at its own 30 with 1:21 left and no timeouts. David Graef caught a 6-yard pass from Ritchie and a 15-yard facemask penalty was tacked on.
On 4th-and-9 from the Erie 48, a pass for a would-be first down was dropped and Erie was able to run out the clock.
“That was a tough one,” Christy said. “We fought hard. They’re kids. Things like that happen.”
Butler had a 7-6 lead at halftime, but both teams missed out on scoring opportunities in the first half. Leading 7-0, the Tornado had a 2nd-and-1 on the Erie 25 — and wound up turning the ball over on downs at the Royals 35. Erie turned the ball over on downs at the Butler 12 and the Butler 20 in the second quarter.
“We know what Butler is all about,” Henderson said. “They fight you tooth and nail. This is a big win for our program, a needed win. Our whole gameplan was designed to stop Littlejohn and Lacey. When Littlejohn went out, I figured they’d use their counter a lot more.
“We never did completely stop it. That’s something we’ll have to work on.”
Tajhae Thomas led the Royals with 97 yards on nine carries. Graef ran for 101 yards, Lacey for 82, Littlejohn for 62 for Butler, which tallied 279 yards on the ground.
“We’ve been looking to develop our running game and we got it going tonight,” Christy said. “That’s a major plus for us in this game.”
The teams combined to rush for 495 yards and throw for 39. The Tornado were flagged 12 times for 104 yards. Neither team turned the ball over.
“Those penalties hurt ... probably cost us the game,” Christy said.
Littlejohn is expectyed to have X-rays done on the index finger of his throwing hand.The Tornado defense — sparked by Terrell Holderman, Allen Crispen, Landon Hill and others — limited Erie to 229 total yards.
Butler plays at Seneca Valley next Friday with the Eagle Traveling Trophy going to the winner.
Erie 6 0 8 6 — 20
Butler 7 0 6 6 — 19
First Quarter
B — Mark Klemz 1 pass from Braylon Littlejohn (Christian Mortimer kick), 10:17
E — Adrien Tate 2 run (kick blocked), 2:50
Third Quarter
E — Tate 3 run (Tate run), 3:44
B — Landon Lacey 33 run (kick failed), :00
Fourth Quarter
E— Tate 30 run (run failed), 6:15
B — Klemz 5 run (run failed), 1:53
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Erie, Quani Darnell 12-37, Nyciere Smith 3-15, Adrien Tate 13-61, Tajhae Thomas 9-97, Cam Barnes 2-6. Butler, Braylon Littlejohn 11-62, David Graef 14-101, Landon Lacey 8-82, Mark Klemz 7-36, Alex Catalfano 3-1, Zane Summerville 2-(-3).
Passing: Erie, Quani Darnell 2-6-13-0, Adrien Tate 0-1-0-0. Butler, Braylon Littlejohn 5-7-20-0, Noah Ritchie 1-5-6-0.
Receiving: Erie, Keon Somerville 2-13. Butler, Mark Klemz 2-8, Landon Lacey 2-(-2), Preston Simko 1-14, David Graef 1-6.
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