BUTLER TWP— Forget about four quarters. Clair Altemus wanted only four seconds.

"That's what I told the kids at halftime,"the longtime Pine-Richland football coach said. "It takes about four seconds to run an offensive play once the ball is snapped.

"I asked the kids for four seconds of maximum effort from whistle to whistle."

That request was granted during a 17-play scoring drive in the third quarter that led the Rams to a 21-14 triumph over Butler Friday night at Art Bernardi Stadium.

The game was tied at 14 at halftime. The Golden Tornado missed a chance to take the lead when Ryan Soule's 39-yard field goal attempt was well short with four seconds left in the first half.

Butler quarterback Cole Harvey suffered a rib injury early in the second quarter and did not play for the remainder of the half. He stood on the sidelines, jersey and shoulder pads off, holding an ice pack to his upper rib cage.

Harvey returned to start the third quarter, completing a 17-yard pass to Eli Christy to help move the Tornado (3-3, 0-2) to the Pine-Richland 27-yard line.

Christy fumbled on second down from there, however, and the Rams' Luke Conte recovered at the 21.

"We gave them the ball and they put a drive together,"Butler coach Jeff McAnallen said.

They certainly did.

The Rams drove 79 yards in 17 plays, using 8 minutes and 17 seconds in the process. On third-and-goal from the 7-yard line, P-R's Eric Kordenbrock found T.J. Kuban for a touchdown in the left corner of the end zone. The score proved to be the last of the game.

Pine-Richland (2-4, 1-1) converted five third-down plays and a fourth-and-one during the march. Mitch Elliot, who had 26 carries for 131 yards, carried eight times for 42 yards on the drive.

"He's our workhorse and we were gonna ride him,"Altemus said.

The drive was helped along by a pass interference call against Tornado defender Mason McLaughlin in the end zone on a third-and-5 play from the 20.

"Mason was just running right with the kid,"McAnallen said. "I don't even think there was any contact. That was a tough call that went against us.

"Even if they hit a long field goal on the next play, a three-point deficit changes the complexion of the game."

Christy replaced Harvey at quarterback for the second time in the game with 8:58 remaining in the contest.

"Cole wanted to go. He tried to go. He just couldn't do it,"McAnallen said. "I'm not going to risk a kid's health or future to try to win a football game."

Led by big plays from Dayne Horwat, Jordan Emrick and Tony Fudoli, Butler's defense forced a trio of three-and-outs from Pine-Richland down the stretch.

Pine-Richland's John Hunter intercepted a pass and returned it 10 yards to the Tornado 24 with 4:37 left, but the Rams couldn't add to the lead.

"Our defense kept giving us chances, but we couldn't move the ball,"McAnallen said. "It hurt us tremendously not having Cole. That cut our (offensive) package pretty much in half."

Butler managed only two first downs in the final two quarters.

The game ended in bizarre fashion. With 1:10 left and Butler having only one timeout, Pine-Richland ran a play on first down from the Tornado 19. The ball was fumbled and Butler's Joe Marak recovered.

"We were gonna take a knee on the next snap,"Altemus said. "It never fails. On that last play you run, someone gets hurt or you lose a fumble."

Butler was even given an extra down on the ensuing possession, but it couldn't move the ball. Fudoli caught a 4-yard pass, Christy got sacked, spiked the ball, then threw two incompletions.

In the first quarter, Elliot scored on a 3-yard run to cap a 64-yard drive to give Pine- Richland a 7-0 lead,

The Tornado scored twice in the second quarter, both times on short fields after fumble recoveries. Luke Gilliland recovered a fumble at the Rams' 9-yard line and Christy tossed a 3-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Lesniewski to tie the game three plays later.

Marak recovered a fumble at the Pine-Richland 37 and quarterback Christy directed a five-play scoring drive. Christy got the touchdown on a 13-yard run.

But Pine-Richland pulled even before halftime, marching 71 yards in eight plays. Kordenbrock's 22-yard touchdown toss to Kuban with 1:09 left in the half was his first completed pass of the night.

"We dug down deep tonight,"Altemus said. "We beat a program with a storied tradition. This is a big one for us."