BUTLER TWP — During the second quarter last week against Erie McDowell, Butler football coach Garry Cathell re-evaluated his thinking.

"I was watching (quarterback )Nick (Monteleone) pull himself off the ground slowly after a play,"Cathell said. "Just looking at his body English and the way he was throwing the ball ... maybe I'm trying to get too much out of this kid."

Through five games this season, Monteleone has 85 carries and 143 passes thrown. That's 228 plays — 45 per game — he's been the direct catalyst for.

And he's been hit or knocked down after a lot of them.

"He's had to pick himself off the ground 40 times a game. That and trying to run an offense is tough on anybody,"Cathell said.

When Golden Tornado (2-3, 0-1) host Shaler (4-1, 1-0) for homecoming at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Art Bernardi Stadium, Butler will approach that game with a different offensive look.

There could be two backs lining up with Monteleone in the backfield. And while Butler will still run the football some of the time, it won't be Monteleone all of the time.

"We had 25 passing plays and 24 running plays at McDowell,"Cathell said. "If we have 24 running plays this week, Nick will carry the ball on less than half of them."

Monteleone carried the ball on 21 of the Tornado's 24 running plays at McDowell. Fullback Ben Ashcraft was limited by a pinched nerve in his neck, however.

Ashcraft will be healthier this week, Dan D'Amore and Cameron McDonald-Cahill will see more time at tailback Friday and tight end Aaron Dorondo could serve as a second fullback as well.

Cathell admitted his team will take on even more of a spread look with the tight end, in essence, being replaced by the speedy McDonald-Cahill.

"Cameron gives us a speed element down the field,"the coach said. "Our receivers can all catch the ball, but they're mostly possession-type receivers.

"Maybe we've gone to the well (short passing game) too many times. With the coaches in our league, once you play three or four games, everybody's got tapes on you and people have you down."

Monteleone has thrown for 859 yards and four touchdowns this year, but completed just 11 of 25 passes for 72 yards and three interceptions last week. He ended a streak of 24 successive 100-yard passing games.

Jordan Roycroft has 25 catches for 307 yards while Andy Strutt has hauled in 25 passes for 206.

"We're going to slow things down a little bit Friday,"Cathell said. "We'll stick the no-huddle in on occasion, but we're going to give Nick time to huddle up, gather himself and make plays for us."

Defensively, Butler has been led by Dorondo and Dan McPherson, who have 77 tackles combined. Dorondo has three quarterback sacks while Michael Porter has 2Z\x.

"Our defense has been doing a good job overall,"Cathell said. "They're settling in. This is the third defensive coordinator in as many years for these guys."

Shaler is coming off a 14-8 win over North Hills in its Quad North opener. The Titans' lone loss is a 28-14 decision to Plum in Week 3.

"Their misdirection offense has been very effective and they've been getting good play out of their quarterback,"Cathell said. "Their defense plays with emotion and, overall, they don't make mistakes."

Butler has lost to Shaler in each of the past three seasons, 21-17, 19-11 and 39-22. The Tornado edged the Titans 17-14 in 2002, Cathell's first season at.

The coach shrugged off the notion that Friday's game is a must-win.

"They're all must-wins," he said of Quad North games. "You just hope to win a couple of them early, because it takes the pressure off and the kids can just relax and play the game."