UPPER ST. CLAIR - By the look of Upper St. Clair's rushing statistics from Friday's game with Seneca Valley, you would expect senior running back Sean Lee led the charge.

But the Panthers star didn't see a carry all night.

"Sean was nursing a charley horse," said USC coach Jim Render. "And we didn't want to risk him getting hit."

The Panthers didn't miss Lee's average of 127 yards per game because sophomore Dane Conwell's 114 yards on just 13 carries led a ground attack that churned out 314 yards on 37 attempts as the Panthers shut out the Raiders 42-0.

The Panthers (8-0, 6-0) outgained SV 467-53.

"We knew we had some other kids who could carry the football," said Render. "And we wanted to get them some time under the Friday night lights."

Leading 14-0 at the start of the second half, the Panthers had an eight-play, 79-yard drive snuffed out when the Raiders forced and recovered a fumble at their own 1-yard line.

"That was a big play by our defense to open the second half," said Raiders coach Ron Butschle. "But after that, we started to lose the field position game. Everything started to go down hill after that."

The Panthers made up for their fumble on their next possession, when quarterback Josh Helmrich found Dan Cafaro for a 59-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the series.

Pete Kowalcheck scored on a 9-yard run later in the period for a 28-0 lead.

Conwell scored two touchdowns on the ground from 9 and 2 yards out while Helmrich completed 6 of 11 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

With SV missing Evan Braithwaite and Pat Prazer because of injuries, sophomore Nate Bradley led the team in rushing with 28 yards on 12 carries.

SV forced a Panthers fumble on Upper St. Clair's first possession of the game.

The Raiders responded with a 46-yard drive, which was aided by a roughing the kicker penalty on Upper St. Clair when SV punted on fourth-and-5 from its own 31.

The drive ended when quarterback Marshall Lee took a snap at USC's 42-yard line, scrambled to his right and heaved a desperation pass that was picked off by Bob Petrini at the Panthers 10.

The Raiders penetrated USC territory again in the second quarter with USC up 7-0.

Kevan Smith connected with tight end Shaun Eagle for a 12-yard pass down to the Panthers 40.

Five plays later, the drive stalled and Mark Renyck's 35-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Cafaro.

USC added a score before the half for a 14-0 lead.

"I thought we performed in the first half the way we are capable of playing," said Butschle. "If we could just put four quarters of that type of play together, we'd be all right."

The Raiders (0-8, 0-6) host Butler next Friday in the Quad North finale for both teams. The winner receives the Butler Eagle Traveling Trophy.