BUTLER TWP — The Golden Tornado remember it well.

Shaler put an end to its 33-game football losing streak at Butler's expense last season, posting a 30-20 win at Art Bernardi Stadium.

“We didn't play well that night and Shaler did,” Butler coach Rob Densmore said. “They made the plays to beat us.

“At the beginning of this year, they probably circled games on the schedule in which they could get a victory. I'm sure we're one of them. It's up to us not to let that happen.

“We're going down there looking for win No. 2,” Densmore added.

Shaler (0-5, 0-3) hosts Butler (1-3, 0-3) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The Titans defeated Fox Chapel two weeks after knocking off Butler last year. Since then, things haven't gone so well.

Dating back to last year, Shaler has dropped its last nine games while getting outscored 387-35 in the process. After season-opening losses of 28-7 to North Hills and 48-7 to Central Catholic, the Titans have been shut out in their last three games: 36-0 by Norwin, 49-0 by North Allegheny and 53-0 by Penn Hills.

“Butler brings a lot of physicality to the game and that concerns me. We're pretty banged up,” Shaler coach Jon LeDonne said.

Senior quarterback Jack Quinn is out for the season. He recovered from off-season shoulder surgery, only to tear an ACL in the Titans' Week Zero loss to North Hills.

A freshman, Daren Mizgorski, has since stepped behind center for Shaler.

“We're bringing him along, but he's a freshman. It will take time,” LeDonne said. “We feel like we can get some things done offensively this week. A win over Butler would be huge for us.”

Shaler's top running back, sophomore Jake Pollak, is battling an injury and his status is questionable this week. Joey Kremer, another sophomore, will likely start in the backfield if Pollak can't go.

“I'm sure they'd prefer to run the ball. I know that's we want to do,” Densmore said. “But they're going to look at us figuring they can throw on us. I know I would. “Penn Hills, Altoona, Seneca Valley ... They all hurt us through the air. North Allegheny hit a few pass plays, too. We need to shore up that part of our defense.”

Senior safety Dallas Hays leads Butler with 28 tackles. Noah Ryder, Kyle Heller and Jake Kradel all have two quarterback sacks. Heller has 20 tackles.

“The way our defense is set up, Dallas is usually five yards from the line of scrimmage,” Densmore said. “His tackles are coming within five yards of the line. We line him up to plug up the middle.

“Kyle Heller has been consistent for us all year. What's hurt us is we have a lot of linemen playing both ways and they wear out in games. We've been trying to rotate guys in and out, but our defense has been on the field too much.”

Butler is planning some shuffling of personnel to jump-start an offense that's been held to a single touchdown in each of its three losses.

Both of these teams have gone through the wringer in terms of high-quality Northern Seven opponents.

“We're both probably thinking the same way this week,” LeDonne said. “When you're building a program, you need to take advantage of opportunities to beat teams you feel you've got an even playing field with.

“In our recent games, we've just been outmanned. Simple as that.”

Densmore won't downplay the importance of this game to Butler.

“When you're trying to build a program up from where this one has been, there are certain victories that are essential,” he said. “This isn't a be all, end all game for us, but it is an extremely important game.”

The Tornado hold a 19-11-1 lead in the all-time series with Shaler.