PITTSBURGH - Just when it appeared ready to stamp out Hempfield's chances of victory Thursday night at Heinz Field, Butler was flagged for two personal fouls after the same play.

The Golden Tornado took those personal fouls personally - and stamped out Hempfield anyway.

Butler responded to the penalties, which ended the third quarter, by outscoring the Spartans 16-0 in the fourth to head home with a 28-7 triumph in the second game of the Tri-State Kickoff Classic.

"Like Coach always tells us, it's not how you start a game, it's how you finish it," junior defensive end Eric Petanovich said.

The Tornado finished this one off and are 2-0 for the first time since 2001.

"I was getting nervous," Butler coach Garry Cathell said. "We kept letting them hang around. We'd get in the red zone and couldn't score touchdowns."

Butler settled for field goals of 37 and 31 yards by Chris Haley to pull within 7-6 in the second quarter. One play after running back Bobby Alexander lost a fumble inside the Hempfield 5-yard line, Nate Shulik recovered a Spartans fumble at the Hempfield 12.

On third-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Nick Monteleone lofted a touchdown pass to tight end Noah Hartung with 4:52 left in the half and the Tornado had a 12-7 lead.

A two-point conversion pass failed, but Monteleone scrambled for a 40-yard touchdown run in the waning seconds of the half, but holding penalty wiped that score out.

"We definitely should have had a bigger lead than we did," Cathell said.

It didn't seem to matter in the second half. Hempfield never got inside Butler's 45-yard line in the final two quarters.

"They won the battle of field position," Spartans coach Greg Meisner said. "Their special teams unit badly outplayed ours."

On third-and-8 from the Hempfield 10, Petanovich broke through and recorded one of six Tornado sacks on the night, pinning quarterback Casey Teagarden down at the 1-yard line as the third quarter ended.

Butler was called for a personal foul after the play, and when Cathell protested too much, he was flagged for 15 more yards.

Just like that, Hempfield had a first down at its own 31, still trailing only 12-7.

"Somebody piled on after the sack and he (the official) called it," Petanovich said.

"After I got my penalty, our defense kept yelling to me that it was OK, they weren't gonna let them score," Cathell said. "They kept their word."

In fact, Butler outgained the Spartans 92 yards to minus 12 during the final 12 minutes.

Alexander scored on a 4-yard run to cap a 57-yard drive with 7:25 left in the game. Joe Titler recovered a Hempfield fumble at the Spartan 10-yard line after that, setting up a 2-yard Alexander touchdown run.

"The coaches conditioned us hard this summer," said Alexander, who had 27 carries for 120 yards in the contest. "We're in great shape, and that's how we've been able to take control in the second half.

"I love playing on turf. I can cut easier, run faster. This playing surface helped me tonight."

Meisner marveled at how well Butler played defensively.

"Their defense got better as the game went on," he said. "That's two straight games they've done that. That bodes well for them.

"We made too many mistakes tonight. We lined up in the wrong formation at times. Our kids will learn from this game film and that's a good thing."

The Spartans scored on the game's first possession, capping a 94-yard drive with a 66-yard scoring play. Teagarden rolled right, ran into resistance and flipped a short pass to Anthony Constantine, who rambled down the sideline for a touchdown.

"That was supposed to be a run," Meisner said. "It was a heads-up play by Casey and by Constantine."

After that opening drive, the Spartans managed only 50 net yards the rest of the night.

"We knew it was a broken play that they scored on," Petanovich said. "We figured we could wear them down, and we did.

"It was a blast playing down here. I love this field. I hope I can play on it in college."

"I'm excited for our kids, for everybody," Cathell said. "This is a good way to head into our conference opener."

Butler entertains Upper St. Clair Sept. 9 in a Quad North opener at Art Bernardi Stadium.

Notes:

Alex Tatangelo returned an interception 23 yards to set up Haley's second field goal. … Butler punter Andrew Goettler connected with Matt Saeler for a 36-yard pass to the Hempfield 4-yard line on a fake punt call in the third quarter, but the play was wiped out by an illegal substitution penalty. … Monteleone threw for 105 yards and has 241 yards passing with three TDs and no interceptions thus far this season. ... The game didn't begin until 9 p.m. and ended at 11:30. … Wheeling Park (W.Va.) defeated Edison (Ohio), 34-0, in the evening's first game.