BUTLER TWP - It was an offensive shootout. Butler just ran out of bullets.

The Golden Tornado drove inside the Bethel Park 20-yard line in the final 1:26 Friday night at Art Bernardi Stadium. But a quarterback sack and two incomplete passes beyond the end zone cut the rally short in a heartbreaking 28-24 homecoming football loss to the Black Hawks.

Butler's loss - combined with North Allegheny's 42-14 win at Seneca Valley - ended the playoff hopes for the Tornado and Raiders.

Butler and Bethel combined for 661 yards and 35 first downs offensively. Neither team punted in the first half.

In the end, two Bethel Park (5-2, 4-1) touchdowns in the final eight minutes kept Butler winless.

"Those Butler kids deserve all the credit in the world," Bethel Park coach Jeff Metheny said. "They may not have won the game, but (Butler head coach Garry Cathell) has them playing hard - very hard."

The accolades were small consolation for the Tornado.

"I just can't feel good about losing," Cathell said. "Our kids are working so hard every day. We just don't want them to lose. … This is hard to muster for everybody."

The teams swapped the lead in the first half before Butler put together an 8-play, 58-yard field goal drive in the final 57 seconds.

Butler quarterback Nick Monteleone's 43-yard pass to tight end Josh Wachter highlighted the drive that ended with a Chris Haley 37-yard field goal on the half's final play, and the teams went to the locker room even at 16.

The Tornado took the lead late in the third quarter after Ian Haley intercepted an L.J. Michalski pass at the Butler 45-yard line with 3:27 left in the period.

Bob Alexander scored on a 17-yard run - his second touchdown of the night - with 54 seconds on the clock.

Butler added a strange two-point conversion when holder Luke Renwick couldn't handle the low snap on a kick attempt. He picked the ball up and lateraled it to Haley. He threw the ball back across the field to Renwick, who beat the pursuit to the right corner of the end zone.

Alexander had 18 carries for 169 yards in the game.

"We had Bobby back tonight," Cathell said. "He makes a difference."

Chris Boris makes a difference for Bethel Park, too.

Trailing 24-16, the Black Hawks drove 75 yards in 11 plays. Boris had runs of 12 and 16 yards during the march, and fullback B.J. Bytner had a 25-yard pass reception.

Boris scored on a 3-yard run to cut the gap to 24-22 with 7:20 remaining. He was stopped short of the goal line on an attempted conversion run.

A holding penalty forced Butler into a three-and-out on its ensuing possession and Bethel took over at its own 42.

Boris rambled 34 yards with a screen pass to key a 58-yard drive, then finished it himself with a 2-yard run. The conversion pass failed, but Bethel had a 28-24 lead with 1:26 remaining.

Boris recorded 270 all-purpose yards, including 160 rushing, and all four Black Hawk touchdowns.

"Chris plays with a lot of heart," Metheny said. "The kid gets after it for us. He has a lot of speed and a will to win. I'm proud of his effort tonight."

The Black Hawks nearly had to settle for a 33-yard field goal attempt for the lead with 2:51 remaining, but Butler was penalized for having too many players on the field.

The five-yard penalty on fourth-and-4 gave Bethel a first down and set up its game-winning touchdown.

"On placement kicks, one of our tackles is supposed to come off the field and another is supposed to go on," Cathell said. "On that play, both of the kids stayed out there.

"Unfortunately, that's the play everybody's going to be talking about."

Butler began its final possession at its 35-yard line as Bethel's kickoff went out of bounds. Monteleone found Bobby Ridley for a 21-yard completion.

He found Noah Hartung for an 11-yard pickup, then hit Ridley over the middle for 19 yards. The Tornado took one of their two remaining timeouts at the Black Hawks 17 with 16 seconds left.

Matthew Jaworski sacked Monteleone for a 5-yard loss with 11 seconds left and Butler was forced to use its final timeout.

Monteleone tried hitting Renwick deep in the end zone twice, but both passes sailed out of the end zone.

"We did some twisting around with our defensive line, but we didn't blitz," Metheny said of the sack. "It was a big play. We were all in desperation mode at the end."

Notes:

Frank Kowalkowski and Wachter added interceptions for Butler. … The Tornado suffered three turnovers, giving them nine in their last two games. … Monteleone threw for 160 yards while Michalski threw for 149 for Bethel. … The Tornado play their final regularly scheduled home game next Friday against Mt. Lebanon.