BUTLER TWP — This one was tough to swallow.

McDowell scored two touchdowns in the first five minutes — one on a 51-yard punt return — in building a big lead early Friday night at Art Bernardi Stadium, handing Butler a 45-7 defeat.

The Trojans' lead was 28-0 by midway through the second quarter.

“I wasn't expecting this ... nothing like this,” Butler coach Eric Christy said. “That team got off the bus afer a long drive down here and was ready to play football.”

McDowell (2-0) generated 427 yards of offense — 251 rushing, 176 passing — and 21 first downs on the night.

“We're always looking for balance. By that, I mean balance in terms of effort,” McDowell coach Brad Orlando said. “We definitely got that tonight.

“This was a nice win.”

McDowell's lone drawback was taking 10 penalties for 100 yards, most of them holding calls. But they didn't seem to slow the Trojans down.

McDowell scored less than three minutes into the game when Braeden Soboleski hauled in a pass along the right sidelines, made a defender miss and scooted 39 yards for his team's first score.

Moments later, he scored again on the 51-yard punt return.

“It looked like we had him boxed in,” Christy said of the punt return. “We hjave to do a better job of finishing on special teams.”

Juchno threw a pair of touchdown passes and had a 14-yard run for a scorehimself. Justo Rivera rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown.

“Justo was being used in the slot in preseason,” Orlando said. “When our top running back moved to Florida, we shifted him over.

“I wasn't sure how he'd do running between the tackles, but he's a tough kid and he's been breaking tackles.”

Butler (0-2) got on the board late in the first half as a Cooper Baxter 1-yard run capped a 63-yard drive. Baxter found Byron Manchester for 14 yards and Lance Slater for 18 to highlight the march.

Baxter's score came with 2:35 left on the clock. Slater intercepted a Juchno pass at the McDowell 32 with 1:47 remaining in the half.

The Golden Tornado went three-and-out, however, with Baxter getting sacked for a 9-yard loss on first down.

“They were getting some momentum there and we did a good job of snatching it back,” Orlando said.

Lenny McLaughlin was short on a 50-yard field goal attenot for the Trojans on the final play of the half. He connected on a 31-yarder in the third quarter.

Butler was limited to 179 yards and eight first downs offensively. Mac Schnur set up Baxter's TD run by tossing a 3-yard pass to him on fourth-and-1 from the McDowell 4-yard line.

The Tornado had 330 yards of offense last week at Cathedral Prep.

“They were a bigger team than us physically,” Christy said of McDowell. “But heart can go a long way. We just didn't get it done in this game and that's disappointing.”

Butler travels to Erie High next Saturday for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

McDowell 14 14 3 14 — 45

Butler 0 7 0 0 — 7

First Quarter

M — Braeden Soboleski 39 pass from Chris Juchno (Lenny McLaughlin kick), 9:35

M — Soboleski 51 punt return (McLaughlin kick), 7:23

Second Quarter

M — Matt McGregor 12 pass from Juchno (McLaughlin kick), 11:25

M — Justo Rivera 3 run (McLaughlin kick), 6:23

B — Cooper Baxter 1 run (Alexander Titus kick), 2:35

Third Quarter

M — McLaughlin 31 field goal, 1:30

Fourth Quarter

M — Juchno 14 run ((McLaughlin kick), 9:10

M — Jacob Skolnik 2 run (Luke Sharrer kick), 3:30

Individual Statistics

Rushing: McDowell, Chris Juchno 3-20, Taha Ramahi 5-29, Justo Rivera 12-119, Anthony Emling 1-35, Ray Jackson 3-22, Jacob Skolnik 3-15, Carson Hardik 2-11. Butler, Cooper Baxter 12-23, Justin Kabay 5-11, Steven Green 3-(-5), Byron Manchester 4-25, Isaiah Kelly 2-8, Landon Dubyak 1-1.

Passing:McDowell, Chris Juchno 14-26-176-0, Jacob Skolnik 0-1-0-0. Butler, Cooper Baxter 10-17-83-1, Mac Schnur 2-3-30-0.

Receiving: McDowell, Hunter Hodges 1-56, Braeden Sobolewski 5-92, Mat McGregor 2-27, Justo Rivera 4-25, Anthony Emling 2-26. Butler, Charlie Kreinbucher 1-13, Byron Manchester 2-17, Justin Kabay 3-17, Isaiah Kelly 1-7, Steven Green 2-11, Lance Slater 1-18, Cooper Baxter 1-3, Landon Dubyak 1-26.