ERIE — Butler faced long odds Friday night at Dollinger Field.

The Golden Tornado did not come up with victory against Class 5A state power Cathedral Prep. They did come up with progress in a 55-21 loss.

“We hung in there and battled. We gave up a 99-yard kick return and never dropped our heads,” Butler coach Eric Christy said.

That kick return came at a critical time. Byron Manchester scored on a 2-yard run to pull the Tornado within 13-6 at the end of the first quarter.

DeMario Crawford returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards to paydirt and the Ramblers scored on a safety and a Tamar Sample 9-yard run shortly after that.

Butler quarterback Cooper Baxter responded with a strong game, running for 121 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw for 125.

He also had the play of the night. Baxter attempted a two-point conversion pass that was batted by a defender right back to him. Baxter caught the deflected ball and ran into the end zone.

“Cooper was a beast in this game,” Christy said.

Charlie Kreinbucher caught six passes for 88 yards. The Tornado trailed 34-21 in the third quarter before Cathedral Prep finally put the game away.

“We generated more than 300 yads of offense,” Christy said. “I'm very encouraged by that.

“We were under-sized in the defensive line. We just couldn't stop their running game. We definitely shut off the passing attack.”

Ramblers quarterback Tamar Sample completed only three of 12 passes on the night.

Michael Parks led the Cathdral Prep ground attack with 15 carries for 108 yards. Jaheim Williams — who scored the first two touchdowns of the game — had 81 yards rushing.

Justin Kabay ran for 45 yards for Butler, which used a number of ball carriers.

“It was running back by committee tonight,” Christy said.

Butler hosts Erie next Friday at Art Bernardi Stadium.

Butler 6 8 7 0 — 21

Cathedral Prep 13 15 13 14 — 55

First Quarter

CP — Jaheim Williams 39 run (kick fauiled)

CP — Williams 8 run (Cole Constable kick)

B — Byron Manchester 2 run (kick failed)

Second Quarter

CP — DaMario Crawford 99 kick return (Constable kick)

CP — Colin Tarski safety

CP — Tamar Sample 9 run (run failed)

B — Cooper Baxter 1 run (Baxter pass from Baxter)

Third Quarter

CP — Michael Parks 19 run (kick blocked)

B — Baxter 5 run ((Alex Titus kick)

CP— Kelyn Blossy 17 run (Consstable kick)

Fourth Quarter

CP — Tamar Sample 2 run (Constable kick)

CP — Jyree Roberts 3 run (Constable kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing:Butler, Cooper Baxter 23-121, Justin Kabay 6-45, Ethan Trettel 4-31. Cathedral Prep, Michael Parks 15-108, Jaheim Williams 3-81, Tamar Sample 11-63.

Passing: Butler, Cooper Baxter 15-30-125-0. Cathedral Prep, Tamar Sample 3-12-74-0.

Receiving:Butler, Charlie Kreinbucher 6-88, Lance Slater 4-20. Cathedral Prep, DaMario Crawford 2-68.