BUTLER TWP - Rain from the remnants of Hurricane Katrina could cost Butler a date at Heinz Field.

The Golden Tornado (1-0) are scheduled to play Hempfield (1-0) at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Pittsburgh facility. The teams could be denied use of the field because of the anticipated heavy rainfall combined with the University of Pittsburgh's home game vs. Notre Dame Saturday night.

"I hope we get a chance to play there because of the experience for the kids," Butler coach Garry Cathell said. "I know they'd be excited about playing there - they should be excited about playing football.

"And I'm sure they are."

A decision on the date and site of this game was to be made this morning. If it's not played at Heinz Field Thursday, it will be played at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Art Bernardi Stadium.

Butler has a chance to enter its Quad North opener against Upper St. Clair next week with a 2-0 record. And the Tornado lost a 15-3 lead late in last year's game at Hempfield, resulting in a 16-15 loss.

"We're using that game as a motivational tool," Cathell said. "We're not even looking at last week's win.

"Hempfield has some athletes and they're a physical team. Their linemen are strong and stocky. It's as if they're cut out of the same mold."

The Spartans opened their season with a 41-14 victory over Greensburg Salem last week.

"That was an impressive win for them," Cathell said. "Coach (Greg) Meisner doesn't have a lot of coaching experience, but he did the smart thing in surrounding himself with a lot of good people. I can see their assistants' influence in what they're doing.

"His (Meisner's) presence can be used as motivation for those kids. He's been to the top. Their kids have to respect that."

Meisner played in the NFL.

Butler will play Hempfield without three would-be defensive starters. Cornerback Ian Haley is out for the second straight week with a sprained ankle.

Linebacker Phil Scialabba and lineman Marcus Hough are out indefinitely with knee injuries sustained in last week's win over Kiski Area.

"The Shulik twins (Nick and Nathan) did a nice job filling in for Marcus and Alex Tatangelo played well for Phil," Cathell said. "Those guys will be in there again.

"They had been pushing for playing time anyway. We have a lot of guys still pushing for time. Our lineup could change as time goes on."

While Butler's lineup may be adjusted, Hempfield's offensive philosophy isn't set.

"I don't think Hempfield quite knows what it wants to do yet," Cathell said. "They ran some veer last week, out of the I a little bit. … It looks like they're still searching."

The Tornado received solid production on special teams last week and showed versatility on offense as Nick Monteleone threw for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

Andy Strutt had five receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown while Bobby Alexander had 21 carries for 82 yards and a TD.

"Nick knows this offense now and he has the vision as a quarterback to find the open man," Cathell said. "Last year, he got comfortable throwing to Noah Hartung. Now he's comfortable throwing to everybody.

"He's strong enough to break out of a tackle and fast enough to run away from one. Andy Strutt was the go-to guy for the junior varsity last year. He's always had the talent and now he's a big part of our offensive package."