BUTLER TWP — Butler has been waiting a while to get another shot at Erie on a football field.

Now that it's finally here, history is at stake in a lot of ways for the Golden Tornado.

Butler (4-4) takes on the Royals (3-6) at 7 p.m. Friday at Erie's Veterans Stadium. The winner will play McDowell in the District 10 Class 6A championship game.

“Obviously, there's a lot on the line here,” Butler coach Eric Christy said. “But we have to keep the kids focused on the fact that it's a football game. We just need to prepare for that.”

A win gives Butler its first winning regular season record since 1997. It also hands the Golden Tornado their first playoff spot since 2012. The last year Butler had a winning regular season and playoff berth in the same year was 1993.

“I'd love to see it happen for these kids,” Christy said. “The program has come a long way regardless.”

Butler dropped its only previous game with Erie, 35-25, in a back-and-forth affair last season at Veterans Stadium. The teams were supposed to have a rematch late last season, but COVID-19 concerns at Erie forced the cancellation of that game.

The teams were scheduled to meet Sept. 3 of this season, but a COVID situation at Erie forced postponement of that game until now.

“This wasn't supposed to be rescheduled as a play-in game, but that's what it's become,” Christy admitted.

Both teams are coming off overwhelming victories. Butler hammered Franklin, 60-8, scoring nine touchdowns on drives of four plays or fewer. The Royals defeated Oil City, 48-14.

Erie defeated Harbor Creek, 30-20, while Butler scored a 56-6 win over Harbor Creek this year. Butler lost to McDowell, 38-21, in the regular season while Erie succumbed to the Trojans, 49-12.

While score similarities seem to favor Butler, one thing does not: Erie's speed.

“They have plenty of it and they use a lot of guys in different roles,” Christy said of the Royals. “They'll line up two quarterbacks in the backfield at the same time and snap the ball to either one.

“Different running backs have been featured game-to-game and they've got the big tight end in Marquell Darnell.”

Darnell stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 210 pounds and is a major college recruit.

“Make no mistake, Erie wants to run the football on you,” Christy said. “But at times, they'll throw the ball up for Darnell, who just outfights the defender for it.”

Jermaine Selby is the Royals' most experienced back. He had rushed for 380 yards while averaging just over six yards per carry four games into the season.

The Tornado may be without leading receiver Ethan Trettel for this game. He has 25 catches for 512 yards — a whopping 20.5-yard per catch average — but was on crutches last week.

“He's got a sore leg and our trainers and doctor are having a hard time figuring out what's going on there,” Christy said. “Ethan is questionable for Friday. If we don't have him, it'd be a big loss for sure.”

Lance Slater (29 catches-387 yards) and Braylon Littlejohn (24-307), along with tight end Charlie Kreinbucher (11-192) remain key weapons in Butler's passing game. Mac Schnur has thrown for 1,271 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Cooper Baxter leads the ground game with 540 yards rushing and eight touchdowns.

Butler has rushed for 1,540 yards and passed for 1,595 this season.

“We've strived for balance and we've found it,” Christy said.

Two-way lineman Ethan Babay was named the Tornado's Offensive Lineman of the Week in the Franklin game.

Christy said Butler's 44-34 loss to Westinghouse three weeks ago could prove beneficial this week.

“Westinghouse has the same type of speed Erie has,” the coach said. “We've seen it. Our kids know what they're up against.

“We missed a number of tackles that week. That can't happen again. We need to wrap up.”

Defensively, Butler has forced 17 turnovers this season. Nine different players have interceptions and seven have combined to force eight fumbles.

“A lot of contributors ... and that's been fun,” Christy said.

Erie coach Andre Henderson could not be reached for comment.