SHALER TWP — Coach Ron Butschle must be pinching himself.

After four straight seasons of not making the playoffs and suffering 26 straight conference losses, could it be that the Seneca Valley football team has now won three straight conference games?

Could it be that the Raiders have second place in the section all to themselves and that Butschle was being serenaded with cheers from a busload of supporters following his team's latest win?

Yes, yes and yes.

The Raiders overcame a 14-10 halftime deficit by scoring two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 24-14 win at Shaler Friday night.

"It's nice," Butschle said, as chants of, 'Butschle, Butschle,' were heard from a nearby school bus. "It's been a long time in coming. We've put a lot of work into it and I'm happy for the kids."

Trailing the Titans 14-10 at the start of the final quarter, the Raiders began a 10-play, 43-yard drive that ended when senior tailback James Daniels scored on a fourth-and-1 play from Shaler's 6.

Safety Shaine Patsilevas and defensive lineman Zach Eckstrom halted the next two Titans drives with interceptions, with the latter setting up C.J. Brown's 33-yard scoring run with 2:14 left.

The Titans' final drive ended with a fumble recovered by SV's Sean Gallagher.

The Raiders allowed just 50 yards of offense in the second half and forced three of four turnovers in the final 24 minutes.

Both teams were penalized often, with Shaler (6-2, 2-2) getting flagged 13 times for 138 yards.

"Hats off to Seneca Valley. They came to play," said Shaler coach Jacque DeMatteo. "We weren't ready to play and I take full responsibility for that."

"We made a few minor adjustments as far as (Shaler's) motion on offense," said Butschle. "But the biggest thing was we stopped hurting ourselves."

Butschle was referring to the 16 penalties worth 155 yards his team committed, with 13 of them coming in the first half.

"It was very frustrating," said Butschle. "A lot of times those kind of things happen and you back yourself up into a corner and you can't get out. Luckily, we were able to come back in the second half."

It was penalties that kept Seneca Valley out of the end zone on the first drive of the game.

The Raiders were penalized for holding on the opening kickoff, nullifying a good return by Matt Plautz.

After seven plays and 62 yards, the Raiders found themselves on Shaler's 4, but were backed up by an illegal motion penalty, followed by a delay of game flag.

SV settled for a 32-yard field goal from Ryan Zipf and a 3-0 lead.

Shaler quarterback R.J. Palso found a wide-open Dan Wirkowski for a 61-yard scoring pass late in the first quarter, which put the Titans up 7-3.

Unfortunately for Shaler, Wirkowski would soon leave the game with an undisclosed injury.

The team's leading rusher, who entered the game with 14 total touchdowns, tried to come back in the second half, but he carried the football just one time for two yards before leaving the game for good.

"He's one of our big weapons offensively, so it affected our play," said DeMatteo. "But we have a lot of guys who can carry the football."

Daniels scored the first of his two touchdowns in the second quarter on a 5-yard run with 4:37 left before halftime, but the Titans reclaimed the lead on Jesse DellaValle's 6-yard run moments later.

Brown completed just eight of 26 passes worth 82 yards for the Raiders (5-3, 3-1) and was intercepted twice. But his legs churned out 108 yards on 13 carries.

"I can tell you, and I know C.J. would tell you that he doesn't care what stats he puts up as long as we get the 'W.'" said Butschle.

Notes: SV receiver Matt Plautz caught four passes for 54 yards. He is just six receptions shy of breaking the school record for catches in a season (43). ... Palso ended the game with 166 passing yards on 10 completions. ... The Raiders host Butler in the battle for the Butler Eagle Traveling Trophy next Friday.

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