BUTLER TWP — Seeking a recipe for how to win a WPIAL Quad-A football game?

Shaler whipped up an effective one Saturday — and Butler coach Jeff McAnallen was a witness.

The Titans improved to 4-0 with a 21-12 homecoming win over Mount Lebanon, converting two turnovers inside the Blue Devils' 15-yard line into touchdowns and rolling up 218 rushing yards.

Shaler comes to Butler at 7:30 p.m. Friday to begin the Northern Six Conference schedule. The Golden Tornado are 0-10 in section contests under McAnallen.

"You only get six to eight possessions in a typical Quad-A game," McAnallen said. "That's why you have to make use of your possessions.

"If you don't score, you have to get a couple of first downs and get field position. Turnovers kill you. Three-and-outs kill you. (Shaler coach) Neil Gordon has been at this for a long time. He's got a diversified, effective offense," the Butler coach added.

Butler had a struggling offense last week at Canon-McMillan, managing only 128 yards and suffering three more turnovers in a 31-0 loss. The Tornado have 13 turnovers and are a minus-9 in turnover-takeaway margin.

"Shaler does a great job of using the clock and chewing up time when it has the lead," McAnallen said. "The quarterback waits until the very last second before they snap the ball.

"That team doesn't hurt itself. If we play mistake-free football, we're probably 3-1 right now. If we play mistake-free football, we can win Friday night," he added.

Now that section play has arrived, so has a sense of urgency.

A win Friday would virtually erase the frustration created in Butler's first four games.

"The kids are well aware of that," McAnallen said. "Our five-game season starts now. This is a vital game to us for a number of reasons. We need to beat a section opponent and get things rolling in a positive way."

The Tornado haven't beaten the Titans since posting a 17-14 win in 2002. Since then, Butler has been on the wrong end of 39-22, 19-11, 21-17, 21-16, 35-14 and 37-20 scores.

"We were 3-1 when we went down there last year and I was fully confident we were going to win that game," McAnallen said. "We allowed a big kick return, gave up some big plays — we didn't play well at all. Then we didn't win another game."

They still haven't. Starting with last year's Shaler game, Butler has dropped nine in a row.

The Tornado likely will be thin at running back Friday night. John Barkus remains out with a bad hip and Carlos Sanchez was hurt in gym class and can't play. Eli Christy missed last week's game with a back problem and is a 50-50 proposition this week.

"If Eli can't run at 100 percent, he's not going to play," McAnallen said. "We need him at full capacity."

Jake Thompson, Cole Baxter and Jarrod Oesterling will see the bulk of the carries Friday if Christy can't play. Thompson was the Butler Quarterback Club's Offensive Player of the Week while David Hohn earned the defensive honor.

Thompson is Butler's leading rusher with 157 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Cole Harvey has completed 25 of 51 passes for 391 yards, three TDs and four interceptions.

Tight end Brian Jendesky has 13 receptions for 187 yards.

"Jendesky is a nice target and he's an athletic player," McAnallen said. "He and Jarrod are the prime targets in our passing game."

Senior wide receiver Jesse Della Valle is the key figure in Shaler's attack. He combined for 1,000 yards rushing and receiving last season and had 12 carries for 128 yards against Mount Lebanon.

"They move players around all over the field all the time, but they like to get the ball in Della Valle's hands as much as they can," McAnallen said.