BUTLER TWP — Butler football coach Eric Christy remembers the Golden Tornado's last win over Central Catholic well.

He should. He was the quarterback.

Butler (0-7, 0-5) takes on the Vikings (6-1, 4-1) in a Quad County Conference game at noon Saturday at Duquesne University. While the overall series between the teams is even at 11, Central has won the last eight meetings.

The Christy-led Tornado defeated Central 28-7 in 1998 while on their way to a WPIAL playoff appearance that season.

“Central sets up everything with their dominant line play,” Christy said. “They have four studs up front and are able to do a lot of things on both sides of the ball.”

Defensive end A.J. Beatty (6-foot-5, 260 pounds) has committed to North Carolina. Twins A'meer and Amaar Allen — weighing 280 and 260 pounds, respectively — are getting looks from Mid-American Conference schools.

Defensive tackle Elliot Donald — a cousin of Los Angeles Ram great Aaron Donald — is 6-2, 230, and is in his junior season.

“No doubt, those guys set up a lot of what we do,” 15th-year Central Catholic coach Terry Totten said. “They open up holes for our run game and pass-protect extremely well.

“Defensively, they're very disruptive up front.”

The Vikings have defeated Butler by at least 35 points in each of the past six years. The Tornado are allowing an average of 51.4 points per game. Only Class A Northgate (53.8) is allowing more.

“We know what we're up against,” Christy said. “All we expect our kids to do is give 100 percent effort on the field. That's what they've been doing. We can't ask for anything more.”

Sophomore quarterback Cooper Baxter continues to be the focal point of the Tornado offense. He has thrown for 495 yards and four touchdowns, rushed for 701 yards and six scores.

“Butler is getting better and that quarterback is a big reason why,” Totten said. “He's a talented kid who can make plays.”

Zach Slomers has 18 catches for 204 yards. Charlie Kreinbucher five catches for 115. Justin Kabay has rushed for 156 yards, Slomers 122.

Butler has 30 players on its freshman team. Christy is hopeful the bulk of them will form a junior varsity squad next year.

“We want to develop our players through a natural progression — freshmen to JV to varsity,” the coach said. “We're hoping more upperclassmen fill out the (varsity) roster next year, so we're able to do that.

“Cooper can be a recruiting tool for other kids in the school that way. He's shown what he's capable of doing and he's only going to get better. He's a center piece and we need to build around him.”

Eddy Tillman leads Central Catholic with 785 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns. Quarterback Dom Pieto has thrown for 515 yards and six TDs. He has been intercepted only once.

“Eddy is extremely fast,” Totten said. “He's also a tough kid for his size. He dead-lifted 400 pounds this past off-season and he's a track star.”

Linebacker Gus Sunseri, safety Jaishon Hawkins and middle linebacker Luke Harris are other defensive standouts for Central.

Colin Look leads Butler with 31 solo tackles. Linebackers Kabay and Evan Orloski have 24 each. Orloski did not suit up for last week's 49-14 loss to North Allegheny due to injury.