After waiting 19 years for a championship, Center Township was in no mood to make it 20.

The Rams put together scoring drives of 75 and 76 yards — eating up nearly half the game clock in the process — and defeated South Butler, 12-0, in the Butler Area Midget Football League championship game Saturday night at Memorial Park.

The triumph gave Center Township its first BAMFL varsity title since 1986. It had lost the championship game to South Butler in 2000 and 2002.

"We knew we'd have our work cut out for us," South Butler coach Jeff Renwick said. "They controlled the game. We couldn't do much of anything."

The Wildcats (4-3) were limited to 49 yards and two first downs offensively. Center Township (7-0) nearly got that many yards on the first play from scrimmage. Tyler Ford rambled 47 yards downfield before fumbling the ball away at the South Butler 18-yard line.

"That was a great run, Tyler just lost the ball at the end of it," Center Township coach George "Red" Slater said. "Had we kept possession and scored there, the pace of this game may have been different."

South Butler's deepest penetration all night was the Center Township 45-yard line. The Wildcats punted from there with 3:20 left in the third quarter.

Both defenses controlled play in the first quarter. Ford sacked South Butler quarterback Logan Renwick to end one possession near midfield. Matt Sheppeck returned the favor by sacking Ram quarterback Cole Harvey for a 9-yard loss to end a possession late in the period.

But in the second quarter, Center Township's offense took over the game.

A 15-play, 75-yard drive ate 6:26 off the clock. Harvey ran for nine yards on a fourth-and-2 play and completed a 10-yard pass to Craig Slomers on a third-and-2 play.

A 10-yard completion to Todd Weist followed that play and gave the Rams a first down at the South Butler 5-yard line. Slomers scored on a 1-yard plunge with 43 seconds left in the half.

"Our game-plan was to work the clock and keep their offense off the field," Center Township assistant coach Paul Lumley said. "Our offensive line did a tremendous job blocking."

The line did so again on Center Township's first possession of the second half. The Rams marched 76 yards in 14 plays, chewing 7:01 off the clock.

By the time Slomers scored on a 5-yard run, only 4:19 remained in the game.

Center Township ended the season with five straight shutouts and outscored its opposition 147-22 on the year.

"We knew we had a talented group of kids who were capable of doing the job," Slater said. "These kids worked together all year.

"They left no doubt who the best team was this year. I'm proud of them."

Defensive standouts for the Rams were inside linebackers Nick Elliot and Harvey, along with nose guard Mike Scialabba.

Harvey had an interception in the game, the lone turnover committed by South Butler.

The Wildcats were not penalized in the contest and reached the championship game for the third consecutive year.

"We weren't picked to do anything this year," Renwick said. "We only had three kids coming back who played at all last year.

"We just couldn't stop them (Center Township) tonight, but we put together a good year ourselves."

Logan Renwick, Cody Montgomery and Aaron D'Amore were South Butler's only players with significant playing time from last year.

The Wildcats have been to the BAMFL title game five times in the past six years. Center Township scored a 6-0 win over South Butler in the regular season.

A sixth grade all-star game preceded the BAMFL championship contest. All-stars from Center Township, Penn Street and Meridian defeated all-stars from East Butler, East Side and South Butler, 8-0.

Alex Scialabba of Meridian scored the game's only touchdown on a 7-yard run. Zach Michael of Center Township added the two-point conversion kick.

The BAMFL season concludes with the varsity all-star game at 5 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Park.