BUTLER TWP — With four two-way starters out of his lineup and Northern Six leader North Allegheny coming to town, Butler football coach Jeff McAnallen has one thing on his mind.

Pulling off an upset.

"You don't go into any game thinking about losing," he said. "We're working on some different things in practice, we'll try them Friday and see if they work.

"Upsets do happen. We're going to try to make one happen."

The Golden Tornado (0-7, 0-3) host the Tigers (6-1, 3-0) for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday at Art Bernardi Stadium.

Eli Christy (shoulder), Cole Baxter (ribs), Steve Powers (knee) and Brian Jendesky (concussion) are definitely out for Butler.

"That's eight positions," McAnallen said. "We've got a lot of sophomores filling in. They're enthused about playing and they're working hard.

"With sophomores, you're going to have one or two plays a game where things break down. You can't expect totally consistent play out of them."

Sophomores figuring to see plenty of playing time for Butler Friday include Carlos Sanchez at running back, Trevor Wideman at receiver, Mike McPherson at left tackle, Tanner Wahler at middle linebacker and Tyler Miltko at outside linebacker.

Butler has defeated North Allegheny only once in the past 10 years. The Tornado are fighting losing streaks of 12 games overall and 13 games in section play.

"Baldwin hadn't beaten Upper St. Clair in years and finally did. Appalachian State beat Michigan," McAnallen said. "Stuff can happen. Just relax and go play.

"To pull off an upset, you have to win the turnover battle. You have to have a big play or two go your way, like a long kick return, a fumbled punt, an interception returned for a touchdown, something like that."

Cole Harvey is one of the few healthy veterans still in the Tornado lineup. He has thrown for 628 yards, three touchdowns and seven interceptions. He's rushed for 142 yards and two scores.

Jake Thompson and Sanchez combined to rush for 114 yards against North Hills last week. Sanchez was the Butler Quarterback Club Offensive Player of the Week while John Cumpston got the award defensively.

"Cumpston had three tackles for about 20 yards in losses," McAnallen said. "He put together a strong game."

Baxter, Christy and Jendesky are Butler's three leading tacklers, however, and none will be in uniform Friday. Jarrod Oesterling is the Tornado's fourth-leading tackler with 32 stops, but moved to cornerback recently because of the injuries.

"We'll leave him at corner because against North Allegheny, your corners have to play like outside linebackers," McAnallen said. "There's nothing fancy about what NA tries to do.

"They want to block you down and get their backs outside. Our corners are going to have to make tackles."

The Tigers have a sizable line, led by 6-foot-6, 250-pound Tom Ricketts, who is headed to Penn State. Other linemen weigh 275 and 255 pounds, respectively.

"This team is about running the football and playing physical," McAnallen said. "They'll run iso, counters, traps ... It's 1965 football."

Butler has been outscored 59-7 in the first quarter and 56-7 in the third quarter this season.

Harvey didn't play the fourth quarter last week, but is healthy and has been practicing all week.