ERIE — The combination wasn't good.

McDowell was coming into its second season as a full-fledged member of the Northern Seven Conference in football, yet returned only five total starters.

“This is a grinder of a league,” fourth-year Trojans coach Mark Sobolewski said. “I thought our lack of experience might hurt us this year.”

It hasn't.

McDowell (5-2, 3-2) has lost only to unbeaten North Allegheny (49-14) and twice-beaten Shaler (41-28). The Trojans come to Butler looking to snare a WPIAL playoff spot. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. Friday at Art Bernardi Stadium.

The Trojans might have to beat the winless Golden Tornado to reach postseason.

“It's huge,” Sobloewski said of the Butler game. “We have to look at this as a playoff game. That's how we looked at last week's game.”

McDowell edged North Hills, 23-22, a week ago.

The only offensive starters McDowell returns from last year — a 7-2 season that ended with a first-round playoff loss to Gateway — are running back Greg Garmon and senior 265-pound offensive lineman Mason Giacomelli.

Garmon has rushed for 739 yards on just 92 carries. He also has four receptions for 140 yards. In the win over North Hills, he had 19 carries for 148 yards and returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound back has received scholarship offers from Iowa, Michigan, Pitt and West Virginia. Ohio State and Texas A&M have recently entered the picture as well.

“He's a slasher,” Sobolewski said of Garmon's running style. “When he runs straight ahead, he's a lot better.

“We run sort of a sideways offense and it's hard to get our guys to run downhill at times.”

But the Trojans run effectively. The team throws only a handful of passes each week and averages 292 yards per game on the ground.

McDowell runs a flex-bone attack with a lot of triple option. Jarrett Koper has 466 yards rushing and six TDs while Khilique Harris adds 310 yards and two scores. Garmon, Koper and Harris all average more than seven yards per carry.

James Connor is a 6-2, 220-pound junior running back who is already getting college looks.

“Running the ball is what we like to do,” Sobolewski said. “But if we need to, we can throw the ball.”

Koper and Anthony Lecce have both seen time at quarterback for the Trojans.

Defensively, linebacker Luke DeHart is a three-year starter. The only other returning starters on that side of the ball are cornerback Garmon, who plays mostly offense, and lineman Kevin Sornberger, who has been out with an ankle injury.

“We've really had some younger kids step up on defense,” Sobolewski said. “DeHart is our leader there.”

DeHart leads the team with 78 tackles, including 44 solos. Linebacker Riley Warren has 58 tackles and sophomore corner Tyree Spearman 31 solo stops.

Connor has four sacks and 6-3, 330-pound noseguard Anthony Szymczak is getting some Division I looks.

“We're coming down there taking nothing for granted,” Sobolewski said. “I've coached against Clyde (Butler coach Conti) before. He runs a lot of deceptive motion on offense. We need to be mentally ready to play.”