BUTLER TWP — A regular season that began with so much promise can end with renewed promise Friday night for the Butler High football team.

The Golden Tornado (2-6, 0-4) close Northern Five Conference play by hosting Seneca Valley (3-5, 0-4) at 7:30 p.m. at Art Bernardi Stadium.

The winner will be the 16th-seed in the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs if Bethel Park defeats Baldwin and Fox Chapel defeats Plum.

"You never give up and we're still playing for a chance to get in,"Butler coach Garry Cathell. "With what we've gone through, it feels good to have a shot going into the ninth week."

The Golden Tornado and Raiders are riding losing streaks going into the annual battle for the Butler Eagle Traveling Trophy. Butler has dropped five straight games while Seneca Valley has dropped four in a row.

The Raiders have lost three straight to Butler, getting outscored 109-51 in the process, and have lost 24 consecutive conference games.

"Their season has gone similar to ours,"Cathell said. "They've played teams tough, but they've come up short.

"I don't know why our two Butler County teams can't win in this league. I wish I had an answer."

If Butler wins Friday, it will do so without senior receiver-defensive back Ian Haley, who dislocated a shoulder landing on cement last Friday at North Allegheny.

Haley was making a catch in the end zone on the play and was trying to stay inbounds. The official ruled him out of bounds. The game film shows Haley was in.

"That's how it's gone for us,"Cathell said. "Not even counting that play, I've had officials apologize to me for making a wrong call in four of our eight games so far.

"It's one of those years where we're paying for every mistake we make. We've had two snaps go over the punter's head all year. One resulted in a touchdown, the other in a safety."

The Tornado have been playing Aaron Dorondo and Ben Ashcraft in the backfield of late, but Cathell declared they are still a passing team.

"People always tell me we need to run the ball. ... We're just not a running team," he said. "We don't have a true tailback and we don't have the type of receiver to get YAC(yards after catch) yards. We have possession receivers and that's how we move the ball.

"Our possessions are often eight, 10 or 12 plays. That's how we score,"Cathell added.

The coach said losing Michael Bresnahan to injury was the most significant happening this season.

"There was our tailback and he was never healthy this year, from the first day of camp on through,"Cathell said. "He had over 200 yards in kick returns and he only played in three games."

Bresnahan averaged 35.9 yards on eight kick returns this season, including an 88-yard touchdown.

Nick Monteleone has thrown for 1,399 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Jordan Roycroft has 38 catches for 535 yards, Adam Zaccari 17 catches for 224 and Dorondo 13 catches for 164.

Cory Haley returns this week and will replace Ian Haley at receiver. Ian Haley had replaced Andy Strutt (28 catches-229 yards), who dislocated a hip two weeks ago at North Hills.

Monteleone leads Butler's running game with 341 yards. Ashcraft has 172, Dorondo 140.

"We'll keep splitting up the carries," Cathell said. "We're getting more production that way."

On defense, Dan McPherson leads Butler with 62 tackles, 21 of them solo. Regan Young has 56 tackles, 22 solos. Michael Porter has 9½ tackles for loss, including 3½ quarterback sacks.

Young and Cory Haley lead the team with three interceptions each. All three of Haley's picks occurred in the season-opening 26-0 win at Kiski Area.

"All three of those stopped potential scoring drives,"Cathell said. "We got the breaks that night. It looked like things were going to go our way this year."

If Butler or Seneca Valley reaches the playoffs, it will likely travel to Upper St. Clair next week. If Butler fails to reach the postseason, the Tornado will host Erie Cathedral Prep next week.

Here are the results of the Seneca Valley-Butler football games since the Butler Eagle Traveling Trophy was first awarded in 1993:<B>Year.......Butler.......SV</B>1993.......21.......81994.......12.......481995.......21.......341996.......17.......141997.......18.......211998.......17.......71999.......6.......152000.......17.......72001.......6.......212002.......0.......322003.......29.......72004.......33.......152005.......47.......29