BUTLER TWP — The Butler football team might have won in spite of itself last week — but it won.

The Golden Tornado will try to build on the momentum of their 28-21 victory at New Castle when it travels to Norwin (1-0) for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday.

The Knights are coming off a 17-14 win over Seneca Valley and handed Butler a 35-7 pasting in Week 2 last season.

"They've got six or seven two-way players on that team,"Butler coach Jeff McAnallen said. "We're going to try to take advantage of that and wear them down in this game."

The Tornado had only one player — running back-defensive back Eli Christy — play regularly on both sides of the ball last week. Tony Fudoli and Christos Klutinoty played both ways as well, but were rotated in and out.

Lineman Joe Marak didn't play any offense last week, as Dan Santoro filled in ably for injured linemen John Jaskot and Jake Wachter.

Neither Jaskot nor Wachter will play this week, either.

Butler defeated New Castle last week despite losing three fumbles and being whistled for nine penalties.

"Mistakes we made helped keep (New Castle) in the game,"McAnallen said. "We blanked them in the second half even with the mistakes.

"Any football team wants to be at its strongest in the second half. Teams make adjustments at halftime and most games are decided after that."

Cornerback-return specialist Josh Reddick was awarded the game ball by McAnallen for his performance last week, which included two interceptions — one returned for a touchdown — a 43-yard kick return and 26-yard punt return.

McAnallen described Reddick as "probably the fastest kid on the team."

"He almost played a perfect game on defense, except for one play,"the coach said. "He bit on a pump-fake and got beat for a deep pass late in the game."

That was a 41-yard reception by Ta'shan Jones that gave the Red Hurricanes a first down on the Tornado 16-yard line in the final two minutes. Butler's defense stiffened from there.

"Josh had a couple of picks on out patterns earlier, so they baited him on that play and he took the bait,"McAnallen said. "It's all part of the process. He'll learn from that."

Butler rushed for 267 yards last week. McAnallen said the team's goal is to rush for more than 200 yards every game.

"We're going to have four guys carrying the football." he said. "I know it looks like the Wing-T, but we don't use that terminology."

The coach described Norwin as a physical team that runs 15 to 20 plays extremely well.

"The team that makes the fewest mistakes and makes a big play on special teams will win this game,"McAnallen said.

"Norwin wants to run the ball and pass out of play action. Both teams will try to control the football Friday night."

Seneca Valley quarterback C.J. Brown threw for 300 yards against the Knights in Week 1. Two Raiders receivers caught more than 100 yards in passes.

McAnallen said Seneca Valley's offense deserves more credit than Norwin's secondary does criticism.

"That's a Division I quarterback (Brown) who signed early with Maryland,"the coach said. "He's an extraordinary talent and they are going to be putting the ball up this year.

"When you don't have a talent like Brown on the roster, I believe you put your best athlete at quarterback and give him a chance to make plays for you. Cole Harvey does things under game conditions that coaches don't see on the practice field. He's a gamer who can make things happen."

McAnallen told his players to enjoy the win over New Castle over the weekend. Since then, it's been back to work.

"These kids haven't experienced winning and I told them a lot of people will be patting them on the back,"he said. "But they have to come back to practice focused and ready to play as a team.

"We've got some good senior leadership this year, guys who are committed to turning this program around. They'll make sure this team is ready to go."