BUTLER TWP — North Hills needed a game-changer.

Tom McDonough provided it.

The Indians' senior returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter — cutting into an early Butler lead — and North Hills went on to dominate the second half for a 46-21 season-opening football victory at Art Bernardi Stadium.

Butler had a 14-6 lead before McDonough's kick return.

“Huge momentum play for us,” North Hills coach Pat Carey said. “That was definitely a game-changer. We needed something like that.”

“That kick return took a lot out of us,” Butler coach Eric Christy admitted. “That was probably the biggest play of this game.”

Dylan Pauling's 6-yard scoring run with 4:18 left in the first half — his second of three touchdowns on the night — gave the Indians the lead for good at 19-14.

The Golden Tornado still trailed by five when Christy opted to go for a first down on 4th-and-8 from the North Hills 42 with 4:58 left in the third quarter. Indians' fullback Curtis Foskey broke off a 36-yard run moments later, setting up his own 1-yard TD run with 3:09 left in the period.

“We decided we're going to be more aggressive this year offensively,” Christy said. “We're going to extend a lot of possessions to fourth down.

“That one didn't work out.”

North Hills wound up rushing for 357 yards in the game. Foskey led the way with 106. He had all but four of those in the second half.

“They (Butler) were taking away our outside running lanes, so we decided to switch up and go to the fullback,” Carey said. “Curtis had a huge second half.”

McDonough rushed for 87 yards while Pauling ran for 76.

“They wore us down,” Christy said of the Indians' ground game. “I figured that would happen with our numbers. We're going to have to develop more guys who can come into games and play some roles for us.”

Butler sophomore quarterback Cooper Baxter rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown, threw for 59 and a score in his varsity debut. He scored the Tornado's first touchdown of the season on a 4-yard run, capping a 35-yard drive that began when Cole Slezak recovered a North Hills fumble early in the game.

“Cooper played very well,” Christy said. “We had some problems handling long snaps, so we put him behind center to settle things down.

“He brings a lot to our offense. His touchdown pass late (30-yarder to Charlie Kreinbuchjer with 1:58 left) was big for who threw it and for who caught it.”

Zach Slomers scored on a 40-yard run and had four catches for the Tornado. Butler had 14 first downs.

North Hills defeated Butler for the 16th straight time — but this one wasn't easy.

“We scored a couple of late ones on their No. 2's,” Carey said. “This was a competitive football game. I thought Butler played very well.”

The Tornado host Baldwin next Friday.

North Hills 0 19 7 20 — 46

Butler 7 7 0 7 — 21

First Quarter

B — Cooper Baxter 4 run (Emerson Douthett kick), 8:59

Second Quarter

NH — Dylan Pauling 1 run (kick failed), 11:57

B — Zach Slomers 40 run (Douthett kick), 10:38

NH — Tom McDonough 90 kick return (pass failed), 10:22

NH — Pauling 6 run (Nate Saul kick), 4:18

Third Quarter

NH — Curtis Foskey 1 run (Saul kick), 3:09

Fourth Quarter

NH — Pauling 2 run (Saul kick), 9:56

NH — McLaughlin 30 run (Saul kick), 7:43

B — Charlie Kreinbucher 30 pass from Baxter (Douthett kick), 1:58

NH — John Green 25 run (no PAT), :00

Individual Statistics

Rushing: North Hills, Dylan Pauling 13-76, Curtis Foskey 12-106, Tom McDonough 9-87, TEAM 1-(-8), Tyler Tomasic 9-36, John Green 2-33, Liam Tracey 1-18, Chase Foskey 1-9. Butler, Cooper Baxter 21-70, Justin Kabay 4-(-3), Julian Jones 3-11, Zach Slomers 3-39, TEAM 1-(-6), Isaiah Kelly 6-21, Antonio Harris 1-6.

Passing: North Hills, Dylan Pauling 1-5-13-0. Butler, Cooper Baxter 6-14-59-0.

Receiving: North Hills, Luke Hulbert 1-13. Butler, Zach Slomers 4-25, Anthony Daviduk 1-4, Charlie Kreinbucher 1-30.