WEXFORD — A showdown win over Shaler, a homecoming victory over Pine-Richland, a date with rival North Hills next week.

In between all of that, North Allegheny travels to winless Butler for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday night.

A trap game? Don't bet on it.

"We have to be all-in every week," Tigers coach Art Walker Jr. said. "We take nothing for granted. Section games are the most important games.

"We have to go up to Butler and perform. We have to play our style of football, stay focused and execute. We're working hard all week to do that."

The lone stumbling block for North Allegheny (6-1, 3-0) this season has been turnovers. The Tigers turned the ball over six times in their lone defeat — a 23-14 decision to Upper St. Clair in Week 3 — and lost the ball three times in the first half of last week's 40-7 win over Pine-Richland./

"We fell behind 7-0 after an interception. That woke us up real quick," Walker said. "We have to take care of the football."

North Allegheny has outscored section foes 105-24 thus far, defeating Seneca Valley 37-0, Shaler 28-17 and Pine-Richland 40-7. The Tigers haven't lost to Butler since the Golden Tornado posted a 21-14 victory at home in 2003.

NA has been using the running duo of Alex Papson and Grant Huckestein for its offensive production this season. Papson has 94 carries for 665 yards and 10 touchdowns. Huckestein has 64 carries for 611 yards and seven scores.

"Alex had a productive year for us last year, but Grant got hurt (knee) in our first conference game against Seneca Valley and was done for the season," Walker said. "Our section opponents really hadn't seen much of him.

"He was one of few sophomores we started on our 2007 team. He has a lot of ability and it's good to see him back for his senior year."

Quarterback Jordan Brozick has completed 46 of 88 passes for 681 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Tigers are averaging only 12 passes per game.

"It's no secret we're a running team this year," Walker said. "Justin is a first-year starter and he's improving. We've been effective with play-action passes.

"If teams stack up against our run, we can go for a spread formation and move the ball that way, too. We're capable of doing that.

"But this is Western Pennsylvania and the weather isn't always conducive to passing the football in November. If you can run the ball effectively and play defense, you can advance in postseason. We've got some lofty goals that way this year," Walker added.

Matt Steinbeck has 12 catches for 225 yards for the Tigers — a whopping 32.1-yard average per catch — and Huckestein has 11 catchers for 148 yards and four TDs coming out of the backfield.

Defensively, inside linebacker Gary Allen leads NA with 70 tackles, including 42 solo stops. Olantunji Idowu has 48 tackles, 35 solos.

Defensive end Justin Hazer leads the team with three quarterback sacks and cornerback Zach Runzo has four interceptions.

"We've been getting a lot of quality play defensively," Walker said. That's been a big part of our success."

Placekicker Jackson Cox has produced two field goals. He has four touchbacks on kickoffs as well.

"We want to avoid the type of start we had last week," Walker said. "We preach to the kids about that first possession: No turnovers, no penalties."