BUTLER TWP — Shaler can see light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

Butler wants to stop digging one.

Both teams will be looking for a jump-start win when they meet at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Art Bernardi Stadium.

“Their early-season schedule has been brutal. I'm sure they're coming up here figuring they can get us,” Butler coach Rob Densmore said. “It's up to us to stop them.

“We haven't gotten off to the start we wanted, obviously. We've got a chance to start going in the other direction Friday. It'd be nice for our kids to be able to celebrate a win during homecoming. That's the goal.”

Shaler has lost 34 consecutive games, dating back to the 2011 season. Included in that skid are losses of 42-7, 38-27 and 60-26 to the Golden Tornado. Butler has dropped eight straight games, going back to last year.

The Titans (0-3, 0-2) began this season with losses of 63-7 to Pine-Richland, 42-6 to Central Catholic and 59-21 to Woodland Hills.

“We have done some positive things in those games,” Shaler coach Jon LeDonne said. “We've thrown for over 100 yards in two of them, had a running back run for over 100 in the other.

“This process is simply about getting a little better every day. We want to be better in practice today than we were yesterday.”

Junior quarterback Jack Quinn has passed for 300 yards to lead Shaler's offense. Nick Fugh caught four passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns against Woodland Hills last week.

Jake Hartman is the Titan running back with the 100-yard game. He has roughly 200 yards on the season.

“Our kids know they can be more competitive this week than in the past three games,” LeDonne said. “But we still have to show up and play football.”

The Tornado (0-3, 0-1) offense has been led by running back Damien Pickett, who has 379 yards and four touchdowns on the ground in the first three weeks. Shad Stepp has completed 19 total passes to eight different players thus far.

“Getting Kelley Kuharic back last week will bolster our passing game,” Densmore said. “We tried to work on some short passes last week, but our blocking on the outside wasn't where it needs to be.

“North Hills threw bubble screens and would gain 16 yards. We'd throw a bubble screen and gain four. That's the difference. We need better execution and that begins with blocking.”

Up front, the Tornado continue to be without their two best linemen, Josh McCloskey and Josh Trufley. Working in as replacements are Riley Burdine, Wilde Gaiser, Seth McCrea and Dawson Davenport.

Densmore said he expects to get McCloskey and Trufley back later in the season. Fullback Colton Frost is out with a concussion this week.

“We lost two guys who give us a lot of physicality and leadership when they're out there,” he said. “Until they're back, other guys have to step up and we need to overcome their absence as a team.”

Defensively, Butler has 11 players who have tallied between six and 12 solo tackles. Darrien Pickett leads the defense with 12 while Justin Johnson has 10.

“We've been swarming to the ball well on defense,” Densmore said. “Our tackling was much better against North Hills than it was against Baldwin.”

While Shaler's losses have mounted, the Titans' positive attitude has not faded.

“It's holding up. We have great senior leadership that way,” LeDonne said. “We know Butler will try to grind it out against us. We have to be up to that task if we're going to have a shot at winning.”