PINE TWP— Times are changing in the world of Pine-Richland High football.

The Rams are playing in a new conference, at a new level and with a new quarterback.

"And we're not used to losing around here," veteran coach Clair Altemus said.

Pine-Richland (1-4, 0-1)provides the homecoming opponent for Butler (3-2, 0-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Art Bernardi Stadium.

Vinny Nittoli, the Rams' senior quarterback and a returning starter, went down with a broken ankle while playing outside linebacker during the second series of the season opener against Montour.

His backup, 6-foot-3 senior Matt Yoklic, suffered a separated shoulder during the first half of the same game.

"When Vinny went down, our team just collapsed as a unit,"Altemus admitted. "Losing a kid who threw for 1,600 yards the year before was pretty deflating."

But the Rams have recovered. Eric Kordenbrock, a 6-4 junior, threw for more than 100 yards against Upper St. Clair, Highlands and Hampton, and he had the team ahead of North Hills, 14-0, through three quarters last week.

The Indians rallied and secured a 22-21 overtime victory. Greg Langer had a 28-yard field goal attempt blocked during the first overtime possession that would have won the game for Pine-Richland.

"Eric has come off the bench and done a great job for us,"Altemus said. "It took him a little while to settle in. ... He just wasn't prepared mentally for what happened to him at first."

Pine-Richland moved from the Class AAAGreater Allegheny Conference to the Quad-ANorthern Six. The Rams have had a 1,000-yard passer and 1,000-yard rusher during each of the past 12 seasons.

They are on pace to have neither this year.

Mitch Elliot leads the ground game with 235 yards through four games while Ian Hennessy has 158. Hennessy has caught 12 passes for 159 yards out of the backfield. Junior flanker Steve Valenza has seven catches for 143 yards.

The Rams have only two two-way linemen: left guard-defensive end Mike Felker and center-defensive end Brad Lalli.

"Skilled kids can play both ways and they're OK,"Altemus said. "Linemen are bigger, heavier and tend to tire quicker. We rotate a few linemen in and out, and that works for us.

"Moving to Quad-A isn't a big deal for our kids. We've always played the bigger schools in junior varsity and junior high, so there's some familiarity to it. You can still only play 11 kids at a time and the ball still has two noses on it."

Altemus said he doesn't have a featured back this year by design.

"If he goes down, you're in a bind," the coach said. "We've had a number of kids carry the ball and we've utilized five receivers.

"Justin Williams is a sophomore running back with 4.3 speed. He may see a little more time to help us get the perimeter."

The Pine-Richland defense is led by tackle John Bute, inside linebacker John Hunter, cornerback T.J. Kuban and outside linebacker Hennessy.

The 6-2 Kuban has three interceptions and Temple University is interested in Hennessy as a strong safety.

Altemus said Butler and Pine-Richland are similar in that "we're both searching for an identity."

"We're the new kids on the block, still trying to see where we fit in," he said. "Butler's been losing in recent years and they're trying to find themselves under a new coach.

"Jeff (McAnallen) seems to be bringing back that hard-work mode that made Art Bernardi such a legend up there. The community is getting excited about the team again and that will put pressure on more kids to start playing football.

"There are still too many good athletes walking the halls at Butler and not playing football,"Altemus added.

The Rams will be ready for a physical game come Friday.

"Butler will come out and smack you right in the mouth," Altemus said. "We better be ready for it."