SHALER TWP— Dan Wirkowski's running put Butler in a hole early Saturday afternoon.

His one catch made sure the Golden Tornado stayed there.

"That play took a lot of steam out of us,"Butler coach Jeff McAnallen said.

The play was a reverse handoff to wide receiver Matt Drozdowski, who stopped in the backfield and lofted a 29-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline to Wirkowski. The score extended Shaler's lead to 28-14 with 1:29 left before halftime.

The Titans (6-0, 2-0) went on to post a 35-14 football homeconming victory over Butler (0-6, 0-2).

The Tornado had fallen behind 21-0, surrendering touchdown runs of 58 and 21 yards to Wirkowski along the way.

Butler battled back, however, using a 52-yard kickoff return by Josh Reddick to set up Cole Harvey's 41-yard touchdown pass to Cameron McDonald-Cahill on the next play.

Harvey tossed a flare pass to Cahill, who juked and outran defenders down the right sideline for the score. After Tony Andreassi recovered a Shaler fumble at the Butler 41-yard line, the Tornado were in business again.

Harvey highlighted a six-play, 59-yard driver with a 30-yard run. He connected with Jared Oesterling for a 6-yard touchdown pass and Shaler's lead was 21-14 with 2:54 left in the half.

"We were sluggish today,"Shaler coach Jacque DeMattio said. "I don't know if our kids were looking past this game or what, but it concerned me because I knew this would be close."

DeMattio was so concerned that he broke out a trick play to break Butler's momentum.

After the Tornado kicked off, Shaler receiver Drew Stanny got behind the Tornado defense for a 35-yard catch. Two plays later, Wirkowski scored on an 18-yard run, but a holding penalty wiped out the play.

On second down and 15, the Titans resorted to the trickery.

"We were aware of that play. We even practiced against it,"McAnallen said. "He (DeMattio) changed it up a little bit — coaches do that — and we didn't follow the receiver downfield."

DeMattio said he uses that play "once or twice a year."

The Titans put the game away on the first possession of the second half, driving 75 yards on 11 plays. The key play was quarterback R.J. Palso rolling out for a 13-yard gain on fourth-and-11 from the Butler 41.

Butler never crossed midfield in the second half, managing only three first downs.

"Their linemen were three or four inches taller than our kids all the way across,"McAnallen said. "This (hot)weather didn't help us. Those big guys leaning on you all day ... They wore us out."

Wirkowski had 12 carries for 142 yards to pace Shaler. He had eight carries for 132 in the first half.

Shaler 35, Butler 14

Butler 0 14 0 0—14Shaler 7 21 7 0—35B S7 First Downs 1730-105 Rushes-Yards 39-29570 Passing Yards 926-14-1 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 7-11-0175 Total Yards 3874-0 Fumbles/Lost 1-15-60 Penalties-Yards 4-35

First QuarterS — Dan Wirkowski 58 run (Drew Stanny kick), 2:37

Second QuarterS — Wirkowski 21 run (Stanny kick), 11:54S — Mike Francis 6 run (Stanny kick), 6:08B— Cameron McDonald-Cahill 41 pass from Cole Harvey (Ryan Soule kick), 5:42B — Jared Oesterling 6 pass from Harvey (Soule kick), 2:54S — Wirkowski 29 pass from Matt Drozdowski (Stanny kick), 1:23

Third QuarterS— Wirkowski 2 run (Stanny kick), 6:49

Individual Statistics

Passing: Butler, Cole Harvey 6-13-70-1, Nick Elliott 0-1-0-0. Shaler, R.J. Palso 6-10-63-0, Matt Drozdowski 1-1-29-0.

Rushing: Butler, Cole Harvey 6-36, Tony Fudoli 5-17, Chris Klutinoty 9-23, Cameron McDonald-Cahill 2-1, Mason McLaughlin 3-17, Zach Harrison 4-11, Nick Elliott 1-0. Shaler, R.J. Palso 5-29, Dan Wirkowski 12-142, Jesse DellaValle 3-42, Dan McGinley 2-3, Josh Kremer 6-23, Mike Francis 7-52, Jamal Conroy 2-10, Dan Swiderski 1-(-3), Jared Jones 1-(-4).

Receiving: Butler, Cameron McDonald-Cahill 2-52, T.J. Lesniewski 1-0, Jared Oesterling 2-11, Mason Mclaughlin 1-7. Shaler, Drew Stanny 4-60, Dan Wirkowski 2-31, Josh Kremer 1-1.