North Xtra: Butler savors a victory
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With his team ahead, 16-6, against Canon-McMillan this past Friday night, Butler coach Clyde Conti called a timeout with 9 seconds left to play.
He wasn't trying to embarrass the Big Macs. Conti just wanted to give his players, especially the Golden Tornado seniors, a chance to have a satisfying experience.
"I did it so we could line up in the victory formation," Conti said, referring to the tight formation in which the quarterback takes a knee to run out the clock.
It was a nice touch for a team that hasn't had many on-field successes the past few years. Butler had gone winless the past two seasons, has not won a conference game since 2006 and hasn't had a winning season since 1997.
Some things might change this year. The Golden Tornado is off to a 2-1 start with victories against Canon-McMillan and rival New Castle in the opener. North Allegheny trounced Butler, 49-7, in a Class AAAA Northern Seven Conference contest in week two.
Winning conference games in the Northern Seven is never easy and this year might be rougher than ever. But at least Butler is off to a good start and Conti, who has coached at Clarion-Limestone, Slippery Rock and Freeport high schools along with Clarion University, has the right philosophy as he tries to turn around a once-proud program that had won just three games in four seasons before this year.
"I've got a young group of assistants who have a lot of energy and a good group of players," he said. "We came back in the first game after being down two touchdowns to New Castle. That tells you something.
"If you teach kids to work hard, you'll be successful down the line. I'm not going to bail on these kids. I'm going to be around as long as I'm healthy and the school wants me."
First Published September 22, 2011 12:00 am
