GREENSBURG - Exit Bob Alexander. Enter Craig Gordon.

The former carried 18 times for 205 yards and two touchdowns for Butler, helping the Golden Tornado to an early 15-0 lead in the process.

The latter had 16 carries for 136 yards and a touchdown for Hempfield - all in the second half - leading the Spartans to a 16-15, come-from-behind high school football victory Friday night at Spartan Stadium.

Hempfield (2-0) drove 80 yards in 13 plays for the winning touchdown, which was scored by quarterback Anthony Constantine on a 13-yard run with 46 seconds remaining.

Constantine threw for 116 yards and rushed for 73.

"I can't believe we let that team come back and win this game," Butler coach Garry Cathell said. "I just can't believe it."

The Golden Tornado (0-2) seemingly had control of the game early. Alexander's 24-yard run on a first-and-22 play set up his 63-yard touchdown burst on Butler's second possession.

The snap on the PAT was botched, but holder Luke Renwick picked up the loose football and threw a two-point conversion pass to Dan Tatangelo.

Adam Pritts recovered a Hempfield fumble at the Spartans' 42-yard line with 3:05 left in the first quarter. Alexander scored on a 26-yard run moments later for a 15-0 first-quarter lead.

In the second quarter, Hempfield's Jeremy O'Brien picked up a botched Butler handoff and returned the ball 37 yards to the Butler 2-yard line with 10:01 left in the first half. But the Spartans misplayed an option pitch and took a 17-yard loss two plays later.

Butler's Ian Haley intercepted a Constantine pass in the end zone to spoil the Hempfield scoring threat. But the hosts put together a 16-play, 73-yard drive that resulted in a 33-yard field goal Nick Taylor just 22 seconds before intermission.

"That score lifted us up a little bit," Hempfield coach Bo Ruffner said. "Our kids talked at halftime and believed they could win this game.

"They just decided to go out there and take it."

And Gordon decided to go out and take the football.

On the second snap of the second half, Gordon scampered 70 yards for a touchdown.

"We didn't use him in the backfield in the first half because he injured his foot last week," Ruffner said. "Craig's foot was only 50 percent tonight. What he did was on pure adrenaline."

Trailing 15-10, the Spartans narrowly missed scoring twice on gadget plays. Receivers got behind Butler's defense on a halfback option pass and a fake punt, but both passes were inaccurate and off the receivers' fingertips.

Alexander rushed for 133 yards in the first half for Butler, but was unavailable down the stretch because of leg cramps. His backup Friday, Bobby Ridley, had the same problem.

"I can't explain that," Cathell said. "I don't know why these cramps are happening. We conditioned this team hard."

Ben Ashcraft moved from fullback to halfback and Tatangelo returned to the offense at fullback, but the Tornado went three-and-out three times and were intercepted once during a four-possession stretch in the second half.

"We hit one pass (22 yards to Jordan Roycroft) and it was called back by a holding penalty," Cathell said. "Stupid things like that were happening."

Butler's final three-and-out resulted in a punt into the Hempfield end zone with 5:32 remaining, setting up the Spartans' winning drive.

Gordon converted a fourth-and-1 play during the march and a personal foul penalty on the Tornado followed a 5-yard Gordon run to the 29.

The ball was moved to the 14-yard line and Constantine scored two plays later.

The Tornado got as close as Hempfield's 45-yard line on their final possession, but four incomplete passes at that point ended the game.

"I feel badly because Bobby (Alexander) had such a great game," Cathell said. "We have to find a way to keep him on the field."

Hempfield is 2-0 for the first time since 1994.

"Our program took a huge step tonight," Ruffner said.

Butler begins Quad North play next Friday at Upper St. Clair.