ERIE — Butler brings balance and belief. Cathedral Prep brings tradition and talent.

Those elements and more will clash at 7 p.m. Friday in Erie when the Golden Tornado (3-3) take on the Ramblers (5-1) in an intriguing football matchup.

Cathedral Prep was 7-3 last year — losing to Pine-Richland in the PIAA Class 5A championship game — and returns seven offensive starters and six defensive from that team. The Ramblers crunched Butler twice last season, 55-21 and 56-6.

“We're experiencing a changing of the guard this season in terms of our attitude and that's exciting,” Butler coach Eric Christy said. “We believe we can play with them. Our kids believe they can play against any opponent now.

“There's no disputing how good that Cathedral Prep program is, though. Their kids believe in what they're doing and they've been doing it for a long time.”

Ramblers coach Mike Mischler sports a 208-49 record at the school. His teams have won five PIAA championships, been to the state finals eight times and have captured 15 District 10 titles.

But Mischler is wary of what Butler brings to the table.

“I know Coach Christy well and he and his staff have done a fabulous job there,” Mischler said. “I'm impressed by how well their offensive and defensive lines fire off the ball. They create separation.

“No. 52 (Ethan Babay) stands out on film on their defensive front and No. 64 (Jake Pomykata) stands out on their offensive front. And I believe Cooper Baxter is is one of the best players in our district.”

Pomykata is Butler's Offensive Lineman of the Week, “an award he could win every week,” Christy said.

Baxter has thrown for 216 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 363 yards and six scores while seeing action in just four games offensively for the Tornado.

Mac Schnur has surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in passing (1,009) and has thrown for six TDs. Ethan Trettel has 22 catches for 475 yards and four TDs.

Trettel, Lance Slater, Braylon Littlejohn and tight end Charlie Kreinbucher are all averaging more than 10 yards per catch. Trettel is averaging 21.6, Slater 18.3.

“Statistics can be fun, especially when you're on the positive side of them,” Christy said. “We've created a positive problem for ourselves. We have so many guys who have earned playing time. It's like, where do we put them?

“These guys are all unselfish. In this day and age where life can be me, me, me ... I love their team approach.”

As a team, the Tornado have rushed for 1,084 yards and 15 touchdowns, averaging 6.7 yards per carry.

“We have to prepare for two offenses in getting ready for Butler,” Mischler said. “They run a spread and they do a lot of mis-direction. They do both well.”

Defensively, the Tornado have recorded 50 tackles for loss and eight different players have intercepted a pass.

Babay has eight TFL's, JunJun Andrada five. Andrada leads the Tornado with 43 tackles.

Cathedral Prep's defense has tallied 10 interceptions and recovered five fumbles. Outside linebacker Damario Crawford has four picks and cornerback Tyson Simon has three.

“We've got active, experienced people on the back end and we can get to the quarterback,” Mischler said. “That's a good combination.”

Michael Parks III leads an effective ground game with 663 yards and six TDs for Cathedral Prep. The Ramblers have 1,214 yards and 17 touchdowns rushing this season.

Carter Barnes, a 6-foot-3 junior, has thrown for 654 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has multiple targets in Parks, Wakeem Page, Simon, Crawford and Camariyon Bridges. All five of Page's catches have gone for touchdowns.

“They can do a lot of things offensively,” Christy said.

The Ramblers do well on special teams, too, having returned more than five kicks for touchdowns in 2021. Butler allowed Westinghouse to return two squib kickoffs for scores in a 44-34 loss last week.

Mischler anticipates seeing squib kicks from the Tornado again.

“Not many teams kick it deep to us,” he said.

“We're putting extra time in our kickoffs and kick coverage this week,” Christy said. “We need to shore up that area.”

Cathedral Prep leads the series between the teams, 4-3. Last year marked the first time the teams have met on the field since 2006.