BUTLER TWP — General McLane football coach Jim Wells believes he's got the perfect “'tweener” team up front.

“We're bigger than the smaller teams and quicker than the bigger teams,” he said. “We're right down the middle. That's how we like to look at it.”

The Lancers (2-1) invade Art Bernardi Stadium Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff against the Golden Tornado (1-2). The game will mark the first time the teams have met on the gridiron.

McLane's lone loss is a 47-7 decision to Meadville — a team Butler defeated handily two weeks ago.

“We talked about that,” Tornado coach Eric Christy said. “McLane has a better record than us. They've scored more points than us and given up less.

“I've watched them warm up and they (McLane) look the part. We better be ready to play.”

The Tornado will be playing without quarterback-middle linebacker Cooper Baxter for the second straight game. Baxter is sidelined with a ruptured hamstring.

Mac Schnur threw for 305 yards in Saturday's 38-21 loss at McDowell. He threw 46 times. The Tornado ran the ball only 17 times.

“We'll do what we need to do to win,” Christy said. “If that means pass the ball all over the field, we'll do it. But we're seeking more balance. We want more balance.

“For us, maybe the pass can set up the run.”

Schnur has thrown for 406 yards this season. Butler has 377 yards rushing as a team with 280 of those belonging to Baxter.

Butler has been dealing with injuries to its running backs this year. Landon Lacey will start in the single-back set Friday and David Graef will see time there as well.

“We're down to our fourth back, but we believe we can still make plays in the running game,” Christy said. “We need to do that.”

McLane's wins are 33-12 over Oil City and 54-8 over Conneaut Area. The latter game was last week.

“We play two quarterbacks,” Wells said. “Both can run and both can throw. We can use the entire playbook with either guy and that's a big plus for us.”

McLane's quarterbacks are junior Dylan Sheeder and senior John Amon.

“They like to get the ball into the hands of No. 6 (Amon),” Christy said. “They line him up at different spots on the field.”

The Lancers use the option and the spread offensive. Defensively, they line up in a 34.

“We take what the defense gives us,” Wells said. “The personnel we're facing determines what we do.”

Wells is in his 25th season as head coach at McLane. The Lancers have won 10 to 12 league titles in the past 24 years, have played for the District 10 title 10 times and won three district crowns, the last coming in 2007.

Wells attended the Butler-McDowell game Saturday.

“Can we stay with their receivers? Can we cover those guys? That's my biggest concern,” Wells admitted.

Lance Slater has 14 catches for 292 yards, Ethan Trettel nine for 85, Braylon Littlejohn eight for 76 and Charles Kreinbucher seven for 61.

“Any one of those guys can break loose at any time,” Christy said. “I'm excited about what they may be able to do with a full week of practice in this offense.”

Ashton Gray, a left tackle and third-year starter, is Butler's Offensive Lineman of the Week.

Defensively, the Tornado have seven players with 10 or more solo tackles on the year. JunJun Andrada leads the way with 16. Ethan Babay and Jacob Pomykata have 15 each, Dashawn Cox and Landon Lacey 14 each, Jed Wills 11 and Jake Zimsak 10.

“We rotate a lot of guys in on defense and it's exciting to see so many of them involved like that,” Christy said.