BUTLER TWP — Since Pat Carey took over as North Hills head football coach five years ago, the Indians are 25-26.

Butler isn't concerned about that.

The Golden Tornado are concerned about taking an inexperienced team — including many players getting their first taste of high school football — into Martorelli Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday.

“You look at that place and maybe the Wolvarena at Woodland Hills ... They are the two premier high school stadiums in Pittsburgh,” Butler coach Eric Christy said. “And I know they're doing some type of youth football night down there that night.

“The atmosphere should be something special and we need to get our kids prepared for it.”

The Tornado are coming off a Saturday scrimmage against Kiski Area — former Butler coach Sam Albert's team. Butler struggled for much of the day.

The Tornado did score three touchdowns late in the contest.

“Their kids were ready to play coming off the bus,” Christy said. “We were bigger, but they punched us right in the mouth.

“For a lot of our kids, that was their first taste of a high school football competition. It was a lesson learned. We have to treat it that way.”

Butler has already shifted its offensive line around as a result of that scrimmage. Trever Moore is moving from guard back to center, Dennis Goodwine and Nathan Hall are moving to tackle, Sam Enslen from tackle to guard.

“We were having problems with our snaps, so we decided to move Trever back to center — where he played last year — to stabilize that situation,” Christy said. “That move necessitated the other ones.”

The coach said running back-linebacker Chris Mertz and lineman Nate Cornibe “had outstanding scrimmages.” He was encouraged by the play of quarterback Matt Rairigh as well.

“We ran a lot of the same plays over and over. We're a work in progress right now,” Christy said. “Obviously, we're hoping to win at North Hills, but we're still trying to get everybody in the right place on this team. We're still sorting things out.

“Mertz had a great scrimmage at middle linebacker, but overall, we struggled with our tackling. And we're going to be facing some major speed this Friday night. We need to be ready to handle it.”

North Hills was 5-5 last season and has not played Butler since 2015. But since a 28-20 upset loss to the Tornado in Art Bernardi Stadium back in 2000, the Indians have dominated this series.

North Hills is 31-6 against Butler overall and has won the last 15 meetings, including seven shutouts. Butler has not scored more than seven points against North Hills in any of the most recent 10 games between the teams.

“I don't think the history of the series matters,” Christy said. “I doubt these kids even know about the history.

“It's a new season, a new team ... a new start.”

North Hills is led offensively by versatile wingback Tyler Brennan. He rushed for 334 yards and caught 15 passes for 248 last season.

The Indians have graduated 1,000-yard passer William Hirt and 1,400-yard rusher Melvin Blanks.

Two-way lineman Lirion Murtezi anchors the Indians up front. He is 6-foot-3 and weighs more than 300 pounds

North Hills is always stingy on defense, especially at home. The team gave up an average of less than 20 points per game last year.

“We're looking at this game as an exciting experience,” Christy said. “We're gonna line up, enjoy the atmosphere, and see what we've got.”

Carey could not be reached for comment.