Jason Cherry's football career is alive and kicking.

The Butler graduate, who last kicked for Slippery Rock University in 2002, recently was selected in the fifth round by the Johnstown Riverhawks of the new Atlantic Indoor Football League.

The six-team circuit also includes franchises in Erie, Canton, Ohio; Richmond, Va.; and Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C. It begins play April 16.

Cherry was the first kicker selected in the 10-round draft and was the 25th player selected overall.

"I thought I might get signed after the draft," Cherry said. "I had talked to the Johnstown coach and general manager at a tryout camp they had and knew they were interested.

"To be the first kicker selected means a lot to me."

Among a few Western Pennsylvania players drafted by Johnstown, Cherry joins a franchise that already has sold some season tickets.

"There's a lot of enthusiasm up there," he said. "The Johnstown Chiefs are one of the more successful minor league hockey franchises and they're hoping indoor football follows suit."

Cherry, 24, kicked for NCAA Division I-AA national champion Massachusetts his freshman year in college and transferred to Slippery Rock for his final year of eligibility.

That final year ended prematurely when Cherry suffered a high ankle sprain while making a tackle in the sixth game of that year.

After rehabbing that injury, Cherry has been working out on his own for two years while coaching the Butler High School kickers.

"My biggest thing was being persistent," Cherry said. "That's the advice other kickers who were in my situation gave me. Some guys are kicking in pro ball now who went unsigned for four years.

"Shayne Graham had trouble with kickoffs at Virginia Tech and tried out for six or seven teams before making it with the Cincinnati Bengals," he added.

Cherry admitted his ultimate goal still is to kick in the NFL, but he's concentrating on succeeding in arena football right now.

"The goalposts are only 10 feet wide," he said. "If a kicker consistently succeeds at that level, he has a good chance of moving up. A lot of guys have done it."

Cherry attended an AIFL tryout camp in Indiana, Pa., Nov. 20 and made 13 of 18 kicks from as far as 50 yards out.

He said guys making half of those kicks during that drill "are considered pretty good."

The AIFL season ends in July. Unless Cherry is invited to an NFL camp at that point, he will continue working with Butler's kickers.

"I told them it's business as usual," he said. "I've been going up to Family Sports Center after school with (Butler kicker) Chris Haley and (snapper) Joe Titler to work on things. That will continue."

The AIFL has a pay scale higher than the Arena2 league, but smaller than the Arena Football League.

"The NFL and Arena league are the only two pro leagues in America that pay more than this new league," Cherry said. "This is a good step for me."

Cherry's younger brother, Justin Cherry, completed his sophomore season as a punter at the University of Rhode Island last fall. He averaged 38.2 yards per punt and had 12 of 42 kicks downed inside the 20-yard line.