ERIE — Butler dug itself a hole early. McDowell stood its ground late.

The Golden Tornado fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter Friday night at Gus Anderson Field and failed to capitalize on two possessions in McDowell territory in the third period. It all added up to a 20-7 loss to the Trojans.

Two of McDowell's three touchdowns were set up by interceptions as Butler quarterback Nick Monteleone suffered his least productive passing game since his sophomore season.

"The interceptions helped us,"McDowell coach Joe Tarasovitch said. "We were having some trouble moving the ball against them."

Monteleone was intercepted by the Trojans' Bryant Kimball on the second snap of the game, putting McDowell at the Tornado 35-yard line.

On third-and-6, McDowell quarterback Phil Johnson found receiver Mike DiFucci for a 24-yard completion, setting up Johnson's 1-yard scoring plunge less than three minutes into the game.

The Trojans (3-2) marched 79 yards in eight plays the next time they got the football. This time, Johnson connected with tailback A.J. Fenton for a 29-yard completion on third-and-9 from his own 22-yard line to kick-start the drive.

Fenton scored on a 1-yard run six plays later and the Trojans had a 14-0 lead.

Butler (2-3, 0-1) put together its lone scoring drive of the night in the second quarter, going 88 yards in nine plays. Monteleone ran for gains of 9, 19 and 15 during the possession, the last of those runs reaching the end zone with 10:56 left in the half.

The Tornado never got inside McDowell's 25-yard line again. Monteleone was sacked five times and completed just 11 of 25 passes for 72 yards and three interceptions.

Friday night ended Monteleone's streak of 24 successive 100-yard passing games.

"They were playing a deep nickel package on us, so we were limited to underneath stuff,"Butler coach Garry Cathell said. "People are going to ask why we didn't run the ball.

"(Fullback Ben Ashcraft)was playing with a pinched nerve in his neck and we were lucky to get what we got out of him. Nick was our running game."

Monteleone had 21 of Butler's 24 running plays and netted 52 yards. Ashcraft carried three times for 18 yards as the Tornado were limited to 142 yards.

Six consecutive Monteleone running plays on Butler's first possession of the third quarter moved the ball to the McDowell 27-yard line. Two incomplete passes to Jordan Roycroft and a sack of Monteleone ended the threat.

A 20-yard completion to Roycroft — Butler's biggest play of the night — moved the ball to McDowell's 44 later in the quarter. Two sacks of Monteleone and a procedure penalty resulted in a third-and-24 situation, however.

Kyle Harpster picked off Monteleone's deep pass and returned it 56 yards to the Tornado 9-yard line. Butler's defense mustered a goal-line stand, but its offense went three-and-out.

McDowell took possession at the Tornado 40-yard line after a punt and eventually scored on a 19-yard run by Fenton with 2:15 left in the game.

Two plays before Fenton's score, fullback Kyle Sliker was apparently stopped two yards short of the sticks on a third-down run. The ball was marked inches from the first down, however, enabling Johnson to move the chains on a quarterback sneak.

"Then they wind up scoring a touchdown,"Cathell fumed. "This was the worst officiated game I've seen in my 28 years of coaching. ... Let's just say there were a lot of questionable calls and we'll leave it at that."

Tarasovitch blitzed from the outside often in containing Monteleone.

"We were so scared of that kid and what he can do,"the coach said. "We wanted to contain him while putting some pressure on him, then double-down on their receivers.

"It seemed to work."

Notes:McDowell had just one interception as a team this year before picking off three passes Friday. ... The Trojans played without leading receiver Aaron Fitzpatrick in the second half. Fitzpatrick suffered a badly bruised back in the second quarter. ... Butler returns home next Friday for its homecoming game against Shaler.