CANONSBURG — It was Chad Hagan's night. Butler just happened to be there.

Canon-McMillan's senior tailback, diagnosed with a career-threatening heart ailment in April, had 18 carries for 126 yards and two touchdowns Friday night in a 31-0 football win over the Golden Tornado.

The Ohio State-bound Hagan was cleared to play only last week and saw action sparingly in a 37-7 loss at Woodland Hills.

"They came out fired up and emotionally charged," Butler coach Jeff McAnallen said of the Big Macs. "We never got any momentum going for 48 minutes."

When Canon-McMillan fullback Mike Hull scored on a 25-yard run with 4:34 left in the third quarter, the Big Macs had a 31-0 lead — and Butler had one first down.

"With them losing (18-0) at our place last year, they were waiting for us. They were ready for us," McAnallen said.

Big Macs coach Guy Montecalvo acknowledged last year's loss at Butler caused him to circle the date of the rematch on this year's schedule.

That brought the motivation. Last week's loss at Woodland Hills brought the intensity.

"We worked the kids hard this week," Montecalvo said. "We had to after the way we played at the Wolvarena. There's no way we were going to have another performance like that one.

"After consecutive losses to Central Catholic and Woodland Hills, the cream of the crop in Quad-A, we needed to refocus and demonstrate what kind of football team we were going to be."

Hull supplemented Hagan's night with 11 carries for 102 yards and two touchdowns of his own.

Canon-McMillan (2-2) rolled up 372 yards of offense while limiting Butler (0-4) to 128. Jake Thompson was the Golden Tornado's leading rusher with 24 yards.

Three plays into the game, Butler quarterback Cole Harvey was intercepted by Keith Farmer, who returned the ball seven yards to the Tornado 25. Hagan capped a brief scoring drive with an 8-yard run.

A shanked punt allowed the Big Macs to begin their second possession at the Butler 25 as well. On third-and-1 from the 16, however, Hull was nailed for a 2-yard loss by the Tornado's John Cumpston, Steve Powers and Cole Baxter. Canon-McMillan turned the ball over on downs on the next play.

That only delayed the inevitable.

"These two teams were evenly matched, except they have a fullback going to Penn State and a tailback going to Ohio State," McAnallen said. "That was the difference. We had open opportunities to make tackles on those guys, but they kept playing on a short field and we couldn't stop them."

Hagan's second touchdown was a 21-yard run early in the second quarter. Butler fumbled away a kickoff with nine seconds left in the first half and Hagan caught a 26-yard TD pass, but pushed off on the play and was flagged for pass interference.

That was the only thing he did wrong all night.

"It's just a great story," an emotional Montecalvo said of Hagan. "That kid has been through so much and the courage and faith he's shown through it all is unparalleled.

"Forget about football. He had reason to be concerned about his health and physical well-being. Yet he became a coach on the sidelines with us for months, always believing he would play again.

"His latest medical report came back the other day and it said his heart was perfect. Chad's story is a miracle. It really is a miracle," Montecalvo added.

Butler's story has been one of frustration. Wingback-safety Eric Christy missed Friday's game with an injury, but should return for next Friday's Northern Six opener against Shaler at Art Bernardi Stadium.

The Tornado's best scoring chance occurred late in the second quarter when Baxter caught a 29-yard pass from Harvey for a first down at the Big Macs 18-yard line. A personal foul penalty on the next play wiped out the threat, however.

Besides scoring four touchdowns and a field goal, Canon-McMillan turned the ball over on downs in Butler territory on three occasions.

After surrendering three Friday, the Tornado have 13 turnovers on the season.