BUTLER TWP — Butler’s playoff drought is gone.

The bulk of the players who ended it are gone, too.

The Golden Tornado bring back five starters — part-time, at least — on both sides of the ball from the 2012 squad that put Butler in the WPIAL playoffs for the first time in 14 years.

Five players who averaged more than five yards per carry — Claude Clark, Jake Olenick (Gannon), Jordan Cratty (Clarion), Bob Vernick (Slippery Rock) and Kolby Kriess (Thiel) — are gone, as is standout receiver Canan Roskovski (Clarion).

“That’s the challenge of high school football,” third-year coach Clyde Conti said. “You get a new group every year and you work with what you’ve got.

“We’re going to be putting a bunch of unproven kids on the field, but I’ll say this: They committed well during the summer and the work ethic has been outstanding. That’s what last year’s senior class did for this program.

“I know these kids are going to give the best they’ve got.”

While many of 2012’s starters have moved on, the goals of the 2013 team have moved up.

“We want to go farther than last year,” senior guard-defensive end Jake Hays said. “We’re looking for a nice playoff run.”

Senior fullback-defensive end Chris Smith agreed.

“The commitment is all the way through the program,” he said. “No one is settling for what was accomplished last year.”

Butler’s 62-player roster does not include an influx of talented athletes from other sports, as some anticipated.

“I knew that wasn’t going to happen,” Conti said. “We reached out to some of those other athletes, they want to play other sports and that’s fine. The kids here are the kids interested in playing high school football.

“You go to a good place on vacation and people keep going back because they enjoy it so much. The playoffs are that feeling for us. We don’t just want to go there once and be done with it.”

The five returning starters on offense are linemen Hays and Eric Hindman, fullback Smith, running back Robert Burdine and quarterback Tom Jendesky.

Jendesky, a 6-foot-2 senior, completed 10 of 16 passes for 65 yards while starting a couple of games last year. Burdine had 41 carries for 125 yards as a sophomore pressed into action because of injuries.

“We had a number of kids who gained experience because other kids were hurt,” Conti said. “Hopefully, that will excel their development this season.

“A lot of injuries one year can benefit you in terms of experience the next.”

Hays, a first team all-conference performer at defensive end, will anchor the defense up front along with Smith. Inside linebackers Lucas Dubyak and Jeremy Hanford return, as does safety Reid Werth.

Dubyak (48 tackles) and Hanford (42) were the secod and third leading tacklers for the Tornado last season. Vernick had 101.

“Replacing a kid like Vernick is tough, but Lucas and Jeremy are good places to start,” Conti said. “Hanford’s a junior and he’ll be one of our captains. That’s what I think of that kid.”

Devin Fitz, a sophomore, returns as placekicker after leading the WPIAL in field goals as a freshman a year ago.

“Devin has the ability and he’s got a calm demeanor,” Conti said. “He doesn’t get rattled.”

Conti said the incentive to work harder has proven evident with this year’s squad.

“These kids want to make it happen, but it’s going to take a lot of work,” he insisted. “We have holes to full and players need to earn those spots.

“We don’t have a lot of experienced seniors because we didn’t have a big sophomore class two years ago. We knew this was coming. Our schedule is tough and the conference is as good as ever, but we can’t focus on that.

“We just focus on our own and maximizing our own abilities. That’s what this is about,” Conti added.