BUTLER TWP — Butler's 2021 football season has been about breaking barriers.

The Golden Tornado are in the postseason for the first time since 2012. They posted the program's first winning regular season since 1997.

Now they're going after their first playoff victory since 1992, when Butler secured a 17-12 win over Penn Hills under coach Tim Nunes.

“I was 12 years old. I was probably at that game,” Butler coach Eric Christy said. “I have coaches on staff who weren't even born then.”

The Tornado (5-4) travel to Erie's Veterans Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff against McDowell (7-2) in the District 10 6A championship game.

McDowell defeated Butler, 38-21, in a September regular season game in Erie.

“This has been a breakthrough season for us and we don't want it to end just yet,” Christy said. “Let's plan on keeping it going. That's our mind-set.”

McDowell coach Bo Orlando remembers that regular season meeting well.

“They threw for 329 yards against us and ran for maybe 50,” Orlando said. “We clearly want to defend the pass a little better, but we want to make them one-dimensional offensively, too.”

Both teams were missing two key elements offensively in that last game. The Tornado played without Cooper Baxter, who has rushed for 603 yards and nine touchdowns, thrown for 274 and three scores.

The Trojans didn't have junior quarterback Christian Santiago, who has rushed for more than 400 yards on the year.

“Baxter gives them another threat on the field,” Orlando said. “We play two quarterbacks, Christian and Ben Moore, because they offer different skill-sets.”

Moore has thrown for more than 1,000 yards this year. Artis Simmons has rushed for 837 yards, Ray Jackson for 401.

Matt McGregor and Bryce Wood are the Trojans' leading receivers with 23 and 20 catches, respectively. Wood has four quarterback sacks, Trey Goodwine four interceptions defensively.

Michael Osinski has picked off three passes.

“We have no standouts on defense,” Orlando said. “But those guys play very well as a unit.”

Butler's passing game has been lacking the services of leading receiver Ethan Trettel (25-catches-512 yards) in recent weeks due to a stress fracture in a foot. His status is unknown for Saturday.

Mac Schnur has thrown for 1,469 yards and 11 TDs. Lance Slater has 28 catches for 229 yards, Braylon Littlejohn 20 for 158. Tight end Charlie Kreinbucher chips in with 11 catches for 192 yards.

“We're just unsure of Ethan's status right now,” Christy said. “Mac is approaching the school record for passing yards in as season (approximately 1,700) and we hope he can get there Saturday.”

Rain and windy conditions are in the forecast for Saturday night in Erie.

As a team, Butler has rushed for 1,730 yards and 24 touchdowns, thrown for 1,807 and 13 scores.

Defensively, the Tornado have an interception from nine different players, a fumble recovery from eight different players. JunJun Andrada leads Butler with 52 solo tackles.

“We can't afford to fall behind by a lot of points early like we did up there the last time,” Christy said. “And we can't turn the ball over.”

McDowell's only losses this season have been to teams out of state. Rock Creek Christian Academy out of Maryland hung a 50-10 loss on the Trojans and St. Francis (NY) scored a 21-3 win against them.

“Being the only 6A team up here, we have to play teams from Ohio and New York for the competition,” Orlando said. “Most teams around here don't want to play us and we don't want to play the smaller schools.”

Christy said Butler made full use of its bye week.

“It's something we're not used to, but we got the proper rest and practice in,” he said. “We'll be ready to go.”