From the first day of training camp, all WPIAL football teams dream of making it to Heinz Field at the end of the season.

This year, Butler High will open its season there.

The Golden Tornado will face Hempfield Sept. 1 in the second game of a tri-state kickoff event. Wheeling Park (W.Va.) will play Edison (Ohio) at 6 p.m. that day.

The Butler-Hempfield game will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

"We're probably looking at 8:45 or 9 p.m.," Butler coach Garry Cathell said. "It's our home game, so we can sell our game programs and we'll get our percentage of the gate.

"I think the community will support it and it's a great opportunity for our kids."

Butler was approached about playing at Heinz Field through Slippery Rock University graduates Rob Thompson and Lonnie Sutton. Both are employed at Heinz Field.

Both played football at SRU when retired Butler coach Art Bernardi was an assistant coach there. Bernardi serves on the Butler school board.

"I received a call from them asking if I thought Butler would be interested in playing its opener there," Bernardi said. "I passed the information along to our administration and that's how the process got started."

The Butler-Hempfield game was finalized during a Monday meeting at Heinz Field with representatives of the schools.

Event organizers had originally hoped for a Butler-Knoch matchup.

"The problem with that was season schedules were already finalized and we didn't want to leave any school without a game this late," Cathell said.

Butler is coming off a 1-9 season that included a 16-15 loss at Hempfield. The Spartans finished 2-8 in 2004, losing its final eight games after defeating the Golden Tornado.

Hempfield coach Bo Ruffner was dismissed after last season. The two finalists to replace him are Jim Rankin, who resigned from North Allegheny after last season, and former Pitt defensive lineman Greg Meisner, who played 11 years in the NFL.

A Valley High School graduate, Meisner has been coaching high school football in California and plans to return to this area.

"They (game organizers) were hoping to get two teams from outside the immediate Pittsburgh area who haven't been successful in recent years," Cathell said. "They want to share the wealth, bring different people to their facility and give more kids a chance to play there.

"Our kids are excited about this. It's an all-around positive atmosphere. A win down there could catapult us toward a good year. It's a good situation."

Bernardi is hopeful the Butler community will support the game.

"It'd be great for our kids if we had a lot of people down there that night," he said. "Playing in a stadium like that - knowing that's where the championship games are held - should really give our kids incentive to excel."