BUTLER TWP - Butler knew what was coming. Stopping it was another story.

Shaler rolled up 334 net yards and 19 first downs Monday night, possessing the football for minutes at a time, in grinding out a 19-11 victory at Art Bernardi Stadium.

"We slanted, we stunted, we blitzed - we just couldn't stop them," Butler coach Garry Cathell said.

The Titans (2-2, 1-1) ate 7:47 off the clock on their first possession, driving 65 yards in 13 plays for the game's first score. The key play was Brandon McNearney's 16-yard gain on a third-and-13 draw play from the Golden Tornado 31-yard line.

Quarterback Matt Davis, who completed nine of 10 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown, capped the drive with a 1-yard run. .

"It's not like we didn't know what was coming," Cathell said. "They did nothing that surprised us. It all comes down to execution, and we didn't do it."

Butler (0-4, 0-2) answered Shaler's first drive with a 12-play, 67-yard march of its own. A quarterback sack by the Titans' Mario Stavrev - his third of the half - forced Chris Haley to attempt a 37-yard field goal.

The kick sailed wide left, but a running into the kicker penalty gave Haley another shot and he booted a 32-yard field goal.

The Tornado crossed midfield with 1:26 left in the half, but Shaler's Matthew Dunker recovered a Butler fumble to stop the drive.

Shaler drove the other way and Jerry Dickenson's 23-yard field goal gave the Titans a 10-3 lead at intermission.

Brody Patrick caught an 8-yard TD pass from Davis to cap a 55-yard drive in the third quarter as the Titans' lead grew to 16-3. Shaler would have scored again, but McNearney's 77-yard touchdown run was wiped out by offsetting penalties.

McNearney rushed for 125 yards regardless, and backfield mate Jonathan Flage added 89 yards.

"This was the best total game we've played," Shaler coach Jacque DeMatteo said. "We're getting there, but we can get better. We still have to get better."

Butler missed a scoring chance in the third quarter after a Josh Wachter 30-yard reception gave the Tornado a first down on Shaler's 12.

A holding penalty and a motion penalty pushed Butler backward and the Tornado turned the ball over on downs.

Shaler put together a 10-play, 70-yard drive that resulted in a 32-yard Dickenson field goal with 5:29 remaining in the game.

Trailing 19-3, Butler drove 71 yards - keyed by Nick Monteleone passes of 12 and 14 yards to Luke Renwick - to pull within a touchdown. Bob Alexander scored on a 16-yard run after fumbling the handoff and picking it back up.

Monteleone's conversion run closed the gap to 19-11 with 3:31 to play.

"I didn't like us giving up that score, but stuff like that happens in high school football," DeMatteo said. "I liked the way we responded and took the ball down the field.

"That's what you have to do to win games like this."

After Butler's onsides kick failed, the Titans drove to the Tornado 6-yard line, where they killed the clock.

"It feels good to go back home after doing something positive for our community," DeMatteo said. "We made the long trip up here, it was Butler's first home game, we were back against a wall here. But we responded."

Butler hosts North Hills Friday night.

"We've got a short week and a tough opponent coming in," Cathell said. "We have to regroup and put our kids in the best position to win that game."