IRWIN— Two years ago, Butler ended its football season with a 37-20 triumph at Norwin.

The Golden Tornado players on the field that night are gone. Norwin's are still there.

Coming off a 27-7 season-opening win at Seneca Valley last week, the Knights host Butler at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

"You can't coach experience,"said fourth-year Norwin coach Dan Conwell. "We have a number of three- or four-year starters back.

"My seniors have been with me as long as I've been here. They know what to expect. They know what we expect."

Norwin finished 1-9 that 2005 season. The Knights improved to 4-6 last year — 3-2 in the Quad South — and reached the WPIALplayoffs. This year, they're considered conference title contenders.

"We're not buying into that stuff,"Conwell said. "I tell the kids every day we haven't done a thing yet."

The Knights seemingly have replaced their two biggest graduation losses from last year: all-purpose running back Dan Kozak and quarterback J.T. Redshaw.

Kozak is playing at Waynesburg College, and Redshaw, after graduating as valedictorian of his class, is attending Notre Dame.

Junior quarterback Alex Dennison threw for 137 yards and a touchdown last week. Running back Matt Griffith had 21 carries for 199 yards.

"We pride ourselves on being a balanced football team,"Conwell said. "We'll continue to try to do that.

"Griffith is a 175-pound runner, not very big. He's not a grinder. He's your classic tailback. He broke off a couple of long runs last week to pad his stats a bit."

Norwin returns six starters on both sides of the ball, including four Division I college prospects.

Fullback-linebacker Tyler Urban has verbally committed to the University of Maryland. Wide receiver-cornerback Mike Shanahan, who had 33 catches for 657 yards and 10 touchdowns last year, is being courted by West Virginia, Pitt, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Georgia Tech and Indiana.

Also a stellar basketball player, Shanahan may go that route in college. Guard-defensive tackle Brad Rodgers and wide receiver-inside linebacker Mike Salopec are also standout wrestlers.

"Salopec finished second at the state meet last year,"Conwell said. "Neither of those two have been offered yet, but offers will likely come from both sports."

Other standout defenders for the Knights are free safety Steve Removcik and tackle John Carter.

"We're a little bigger than we've been in the past, but we don't have the 6-foot-4 or 6-5 kid who's going to dominate you,"Conwell said.

Of Norwin's 59-man roster, 23 are seniors. The Knights clearly will have an experience edge over the Golden Tornado.

Conwell respects his opponent regardless.

"They're a young team with a new coaching staff,"he said. "That's where we were a few years ago. They'll come in here and play a physical football game against us.

"That quarterback (Cole Harvey) is elusive and capable of the big play. If we don't contain him, we'll be chasing him down the sideline."

Because the Golden Tornado are radically different from last year in the formations they use, Conwell said they are tough to prepare for.

"It's been a difficult week of practice for us," he said. "We're not sure what their offense and defense will be like, so we really couldn't simulate anything."