CANONSBURG — The end of Butler High's losing streak came spiraling toward Travis Reed's hands.

But it never got there.

Zach Rader's fourth-down pass to the sophomore receiver was broken up in the end zone by Alec Schram as Canon-McMillan held on for a 19-14 football victory over the Golden Tornado Friday night.

The loss was the 17th in a row for Butler.

Rader's 42-yard pass deep down the middle to Trevor Wideman on a third-and-17 play gave the Tornado a first down at the Big Macs 8 with a minute to play.

Rader was stopped after a yard gain on first down. The junior quarterback had to throw a second-down pass out of the end zone. Cole Baxter was nailed for a yard loss on third down.

On fourth down, Rader saw Reed break free in the end zone, but Schram reacted.

"Travis fought hard for that ball," Butler coach Jim Rankin said. "The ball was bobbled around in the air for a bit and he almost came down with it.

"The benchmark for any program is wins. We know that. But we clearly improved tonight. I love the way the kids responded in the second half," the coach added.

The Tornado (0-3) trailed 19-7 at halftime. The Big Macs (1-2) scored touchdowns on three of their first four possessions, and it would have been 4-for-4 had the Big Macs' Alex Adams not fumbled on his way into the end zone on Canon-McMillan's second possession.

Chris Abbott recovered the ball for Butler on the Tornado 2-yard line.

"We didn't play defense in the first half. I mean, it was bad," Rankin said.

But during an extended halftime — due to a power shortage that doused the stadium lights — Rankin and the defense made adjustments.

"Our cornerbacks had to come up and seal the edges," Rankin said. "Our outside people began taking running lanes away."

The Big Macs rolled up 184 yards rushing and had 218 total yards in the first half. They managed four net yards rushing and 12 net yards in the second half.

"Our offense came together for the first half tonight. After that, we had nothing," Big Macs coach Tim Sohyda said. "I warned our kids this would be a different Butler team coming down here tonight.

"Jim Rankin is a legendary coach. Those kids are fortunate to have him and they're responding to him."

Butler scored its first points of the year with 5:38 left in the first half when Wideman's 30-yard run capped a 73-yard drive, trimming the Canon-McMillan lead to 12-7.

Schram, who led the Big Macs' offense with 103 yards on 11 carries, scored on a 45-yard run with 1:43 left in the half.

But when Canon-McMillan showed little offense in the second half, Butler got back in the game.

An 81-yard run by Rader set up a 2-yard Cole Baxter touchdown run with 5:06 left in the third quarter. Butler then forced a three-and-out and regained possession on Canon-McMillan's side of the 50.

On third and 2 from the Big Macs 31, however, Rader fumbled and the Tornado lost possession.

"That play and jumping offsides on a punt shortly after that cost us a few minutes in time, but the kids kept fighting," Rankin said.

Butler began its final possession from its own 20 with 7:38 left. The Tornado used 16 plays to march 72 yards.

They just couldn't get the final eight they needed.

"I'm proud of my kids for hanging tough at the end," Sohyda said. "I know Butler's disappointed, but I'm sure Coach Rankin is proud of his kids, too."

Rader had 15 carries for 136 yards. Wideman had 118 total yards rushing and receiving for the Tornado.

"On that 81-yard run, I didn't even know Zach had the ball," Rankin said. "That was a great ball fake. And the deep pass to Wideman late in the game was pretty.

"Cole Baxter, David Hohn, Matt Pribis — great efforts defensively. We looked like an offense tonight.

"We're getting there," Rankin added.