PINE TWP — Butler was already playing against a stacked deck — and the Golden Tornado were missing some of their cards.

Not a good combination.

Pine-Richland did not punt all night, scored five touchdowns in the first quarter and cruised to a 63-0 Quad County Conference football victory Friday night over the Golden Tornado.

“We knew it'd be tough enough, coming in here to play the state champions,” Butler coach Eric Christy said. “Then we dealt with the injuries on top of it.

“Our kids knew what we were up against tonight. It's a long season and we'll keep learning. The kids are dealing with adversity. We were still playing hard at the end and I'm proud of that.”

With the mercy clock running, the Tornado (0-4, 0-2) ate up the final 11:45 of the game, grinding out first downs during a 15-play, 57-yard drive that ended the game with the ball on the Pine-Richland 21.

“Those kids are being coached right,” Rams coach Eric Kasperowicz said of Butler. “They never quit playing hard.”

But Pine-Richland (3-1, 0-2) was simply too much.

The Rams rolled up 409 yards of offense — 371 rushing — in their victory. Luke Meckler had three carries for 117 yards and two touchdowns, Ryan Geyer 12 carries for 91 yards and three scores.

Pine-Richland began the game with an onsides kick and recovered the ball at the Butler 40. Geyer scored his first touchdown on a 3-yard run 36 seconds into the game.

With its first four quarterbacks injured — two varsity, two JV — Butler started running back Kyler Callihan at quarterback. He mishandled a low snap on the Tornado's first possession and lost the ball at the Butler 14.

Pine-Richland scored on the next play.

“We lost (starting QB) Matt Rairigh late in practice Wednesday to an MCL injury,” Christy said. “He may be out three or four weeks. Then we lost Bryan (backup QB Presco) to an injury about three plays later.

“Kyler went behind center tonight with all of about 10 reps at quarterback. That took another running back away from us, too. We finished practice the other day with 36 healthy bodies out of a 53-man roster.”

The Rams had a 21-0 lead less than five minutes into the game when Ben Mcgregor picked up a botched punt snap and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown.

“Our focus tonight was to come out and play a clean game,” Kasperowicz said. “We had 13 penalties last week and that was way too many.

“The kids came out focused and executed.”

Pine-Richland had a 49-0 lead by halftime. Only two plays were snapped in Pine-Richland territory during the first half. The Rams had the ball on both plays, at the P-R 44 and 46.

Butler did not cross mifdield until the game's final possession, with five minutes remaining.

“We're pretty thin at running back now, too,” Christy said. “I don't think we had anyone left to put out there during that final drive.”

Sophomore Byron Manchester had three carries in the first half before leaving with a concussion. Trent Valent led the Tornado ground game with 16 carries for 56 yards.

Before its final possession, Butler managed only 65 yards net offense.

The Tornado host Seneca Valley — a 17-14 winner over Mt. Lebanon Friday night — next Friday at Art Bernardi Stadium with the Butler Eagle Traveling Trophy on the line.

Butler last won the trophy in 2006.

Butler 0 0 0 0 — 0

Pine-Richland 35 14 7 7 — 63

First Quarter

P-R —Ryan Geyer 3 run (Mason Pruhs kick), 11:26

P-R — Tyler King 14 pass from Cole Spencer (Pruhs kick), 10:25

P-R — Ben Mcgregor 33 fumble return (Pruhs kick), 7:07

P-R — Luke Meckler 45 run (Pruhs kick), 3:30

P-R — Spencer 2 run (Pruhs kick), :20

Second Quarter

P-R — Meckler 35 run (Pruhs kick), 8:37

P-R — Geyer 1 run (Pruhs kick), 5:48

Third Quarter

P-R — Geyer 3 run (Pruhs kick), 7:30

Fourth Quarter

P-R — Jordan Burns 3 run (Pruhs kick), 7:30

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Butler, Kuler Callihan 18-53, Chris Mertz 2-1, Byron Manchester 3-(-2), Trent Valent 16-56, TEAM 2-(-21). Pine-Richland, Cole Spenver 2-9, Luke Meckler 3-117, Ryan Geyer 12-91, Caden Schweiger 1-14, Dayne Goltz 1-3, Jordan Burns 5-73.

Passing: Butler, Kyler Callihan 4-10-36-0. Pine-Richland, Cole Spencer 4-5-61-0, Dayne Goltz 1-2-22-0, Ben Mcgregor 1-1-0-0.

Receiving: Butler, Chris Mertz 2-3, Cade Gratzmiller 2-33. Pine-Richland, Tyler King 12-14, Eli Jochem 1-18, Chris Mill 1-10, Luke Meckler 1-19, D'avay Johnson 1-22, Josh Rechenberg 1-9.