WEXFORD — Art Walker Jr. will be standing across the field from Clyde Conti for the first time come Friday night.

This will not be the first interaction between the North Allegheny and Butler head coaches when their respective teams kick off at 7:30 p.m. at Art Bernardi Stadium.

In fact, Conti gave Walker his first high school coaching position.

“I attended Clarion University and when a graduate assistant coaching position for me fell through, Clyde offered me a spot on his staff at Clarion-Limestone,” Walker recalled.

“That was the fall of 1992. Clyde had done some coaching with Clarion, so we knew each other. C-L lost one game that year. It was a great experience working with him.”

The two have remained friends since. Both have gone on to plenty of success since.

While Conti has experienced postseason success at C-L and Slippery Rock High School, Walker Jr. has won state championships at Central Catholic and North Allegheny.

“Clyde called me in 2004 after we won the state title at Central,” Walker said. “That meant a lot to me.”

The North Allegheny state title occurred last year. And the Tigers appear serious about taking another run at it.

North Allegheny returns five offensive starters — including three linemen — and four defensive starters from last season. One of the linemen, junior Pat Kugler, is the son of Pittsburgh Steelers line coach Sean Kugler.

The running back trio of Alex DeCiantis, Vinnie Congedo and Nick Passodelis all saw action for the Tigers last season and each proved productive in NA's 53-21 win over State College last week.

DeCiantis had 13 carries for 106 yards, Passodelis six carries for 76 yards, Congedo seven carries for 60.

“It's a healthy competition among the three of them,” Walker said. “They are all team-oriented at the same time. They treat their production as a collective thing.

“If they combine for 200 yards in a game, they're happy.”

North Allegheny rushed for 415 yards last week and had 569 yards of total offense. First-year starting quarterback Mack Leftwich threw for 154 yards and four touchdowns. Leftwich is the son of a University of Pittsburgh assistant coach who came to town from Tulsa (Okla.) with head coach Todd Graham.

Gregg Garrity, son of the former Steeler receiver of the same name, caught two of those touchdown passes.

“Mack is very coachable,” Walker said. “I'm impressed by how quickly he picked up on our system. You can tell he's been around the game a long time.”

Defensively, the Tigers return linebacker Kevin Clemens, linemen Pete Thistle and Nathan Nachazel, and cornerback Brendan Coniker.

“We've still got a lot of work to do,” Walker said. “We had a few breakdowns defensively we need to correct.

“Clyde will have Butler ready to play us. They came from 14 points down to win last week and now those kids know they can win. That can make a big difference in any team.”

The Tigers have defeated Butler 48-0 and 44-0 the past two years. Walker is 6-0 against the Golden Tornado as NA head coach.

“This is our first road game and we know we have to play well to win,” Walker said. “We're looking to improve. We're taking a very professional, business-like approach to this game.

“Will we be taking Butler lightly? No way.”