BUTLER TWP— One play and one point equals four championships.

Center Township made that equation work in posting a 7-6 triumph over Penn Street in the Butler Area Midget Football League championship game Saturday night at Art Bernardi Stadium.

The Rams (7-2) were trailing 6-0 with 6:20 left in the game, Penn Street facing a second-and-9 at the CT38-yard line.

The Cardinals (7-2) attempted only their fifth pass of the game — and first of the second half. Will Bortmas intercepted and outran the pursuit 70 yards for the game-tying touchdown.

Kolby Kriese ran for the conversion point and Center Township held on for its unprecedented fourth consecutive league title.

"I didn't know Will could run that fast," Center Township coach George "Red"Slater said. "Interceptions were key for both scores tonight.

"This was a good game ... No, this was a great game."

Penn Street defeated Center Township twice in the regular season, 19-12 and 20-6, and was trying to win its first BAMFLtitle since 1997. The Cardinals last played in the championship game in 2001.

The Cardinals' lone regular season loss was a 16-14 decision to Meridian in three overtimes.

Penn Street ran off 20 consecutive offensive plays at one point in the second half. One of those plays was the interception return.

The 20th play was the Cardinals' last offensive snap of the game.

On fourth-and-one from the CT33, Tim Butler was stopped short of the first down by Ryan Hannon, Kriese and Pat Lokhaiser with 2:16 remaining.

The Rams ran out the clock from there.

"We definitely won this game on the field," Penn Township coach Don Kuhrt said. "One bad play. Our coaches saw something in their defense and we figured that pass play would be wide open.

"Their linebacker shifted over, right into the path of the ball. They hadn't done that before."

Penn Street had taken a 6-0 lead in the second quarter on a 2-yard run by Shane Wilbert. The score was set up by Christan Manning's 42-yard interception return that brought the ball to the CT 13.

Center Township failed to score on two possessions inside the Penn Street 10-yard line. On first-and-goal from the 4 early in the second quarter, Butler and Nate Monks nailed Kriese for a 6-yard loss. On fourth down from the 8, Trae Wilson and Chandler Weltner sacked Lokhaiser for a 14-yard loss.

The Rams had a third-and-goal from the 3-yard line in the third quarter, but Wilson stopped Kriese for a yard loss and the Cardinals recovered a fumbled snap on fourth down.

"We got a little too fancy there down near the goal line,"Slater said. "We probably should have tried pounding it in."

Kriese had 15 carries for 111 yards for Center Township. Keenan Barlow paced Penn Street with 56 yards on 12 carries.

"I'm proud of every one of my kids,"Kuhrt said. "They all deserve to be champions."

"This has to be a tough one to take,"Slater said of Penn Street. "You have to feel for those kids."

East Side claimed the BAMFLjunior varsity championship with a 24-6 win over East Butler. Derek Gengler scored the only points of the first half on a 2-yard run for East Butler.

East Side took the lead for good with a Keenan Krause 5-yard touchdown run and Krause PATkick in the third quarter. Krause added a 68-yard scoring run and Damien Pickett an 11-yard TDburst in the fourth period.

Krause made the conversion kicks after both scores.

Center Township 7, Penn Street 6

Center Twp. 0 0 0 7—7Penn Street 0 6 0 0—6CT PS8 First Downs 922-99 Rushes-Yards 36-12119 Passing Yards 163-7-1 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 2-5-1118 Total Yards 1371-1 Fumbles/Lost 1-01-5 Penalties-Yards 2-20

Second QuarterPS— Shane Wilbert 2 run (kick failed), :04

Fourth QuarterCT— Will Bortmas 70 interception return (Kolby Kriese run), 6:10

Individual Statistics

Passing: Center Township, Pat Lokhaiser 2-5-16-1, Kolby Kriese 1-2-3-0. Penn Street, Shane Wilbert 2-5-16-1.

Rushing: Center Township, Pat Lokhaiser 5-(-5), Kolby Kriese 15-111, Doug DeFrancis 1-(-3), Team 1-(-4). Penn Street, Shane Wilbert 2-(-2), Keenan Barlow 12-56, Tim Butler 11-33, Trae Wilson 8-28, Sean Hembree 3-6.

Receiving: Center Township, Pat Lokhaiser 1-3, Doug DeFrancis 1-14, Kolby Kriese 1-2. Penn Street, Tim Butler 1-11, Keenan Barlow 1-5.