BUTLER TWP— Adrenaline rushes are common in high school football.

But rarely will they win you games all by themselves.

Butler demonstrated the latter point in its 31-0 season-opening loss to Kiski Area last week. The Golden Tornado gained 94 yards on their first two possessions, but only 72 more the rest of the night.

"You always have adrenaline at the start of a game,"Butler coach Jeff McAnallen said. "Both teams had it that night. They finished off their drive and we didn't finish ours."

Kiski marched 61 yards on 10 plays with the opening kickoff and scored a touchdown, Butler answered with a 10-play, 70-yard drive of its own — but threw an interception in the end zone on fourth down from the 3-yard line.

"We would have a lot more momentum had we scored there and the crowd would have been more into the game,"McAnallen allowed. "Whether it would have made any more difference than that is hard to say."

The coach does know one thing:The Tornado will need to play stiff defense against the run this Friday night.

Butler hits the road to face Norwin, a 27-7 winner at Seneca Valley in Week 1, for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

Norwin's Matt Griffith ran through the Raiders for 199 yards on 21 carries while Tyler Urban added another 48 yards on the ground.

"This team will run the ball more than Kiski did,"McAnallen said. "They like to run the ball with a two-back set. And when they don't run, they have a dangerous receiver in (Mike)Shanahan we have to watch out for.

"For our team to succeed, we have to be able to run the football, run clock and put points on the scoreboard. And defensively, we can't let them run all over us."

The Tornado threw only 11 passes last week, completing five for 17 yards. Quarterback Cole Harvey ran more often than he threw, in fact, gaining a team-leading 54 yards on 15 carries. Mason McLaughlin added 49 yards rushing and fullback Christos Klutinoty had 39.

"Our passing game will change from week to week,"McAnallen said. "We didn't throw much last week because I didn't think our receivers could get behind their defensive backs. We're not going to throw the ball 70 yards and then outjump the defender for it. That's not our personnel."

In facing Norwin, Butler is running up against an opponent with Division 1 college prospects for the second straight week.

Urban, who also plays linebacker, has committed to the University of Maryland. Shanahan wants to play basketball and has spurned football offers from Stanford, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech and West Virginia.

"When you play Quad-A football, you're going to play the best teams and the best talent,"McAnallen said. "You can't project your schedule. You take each opponent as it comes and try to come up with a way to beat them."

The Tornado defense allowed 383 total yards in Week 1. Safety Eli Christy recovered a fumble and T.J. Lesniewski had Butler's only sack of the night.

McAnallen emphasized that no one's starting position on the squad is etched in stone.

"We'll make changes every week,"he said. "The jobs are always open. We need to run a little harder, stay with blocks a little longer."

Norwin defeated Butler 20-7 at Art Bernardi Stadium last year and went on to post a 4-5 record before losing to McKeesport in the first round of the WPIALplayoffs.

The Tornado won at Norwin, 37-20, in a crossover game to close out the 2005 season. The Knights finished 1-9 that year.