Kingsway downs Pennsauken behind A.J. Butler’s punt return for a touchdown

A.J. Butler wasn't supposed to catch the football.

But it was late in the game, and Kingsway need a big play.

So Butler decided to break a rule as a punt returner.

"Coach [Antwine] Perez told, 'Heels on the 10, don't catch anything over your head,' " Butler said.  "I was supposed to fake a fair catch if I had to back up. But the way the punt was coming to me, I felt like I could do something with it."

Butler caught the punt at the four-yard line and raced 96 yards for the touchdown that sparked Kingaway to a 21-6 victory over Pennsauken Friday night in a West Jersey Football League cross-over clash.

"We don't coach that," Kingsway head coach Mark Hendricks said of Butler's decision to catch the football in the shadow of his own end zone. "But it was a long punt. We need a play. A.J. made it."

Butler added another touchdown on a two-yard run, and Semaj Bosket scored on a fumble recovery in the end zone as Kingsway (3-2) exploded for 21 points in the game's final 6 minutes, 18 seconds.

Before that, it looked for the longest time as if Pennsauken (3-2) would leave Tony Barchuk Field with a 6-0 victory.

"They are strong," Hendricks said of Pennsauken. "They've got some guys up front who can play, and they are physical. It was a tough, physical game."

Neither team could generate much offense thanks to strong work by both defenses as well as a soggy, slippery field.

"It was bad out here yesterday," Butler said. "Then it rained again last night and this morning, and it made it worse. Coach Hendricks kept saying, 'north and south,' because you really couldn't cut."

Pennsauken's defense was led by linemen Jordan Collins, Jalen Brady and Kenneth Corbin as well as linebacker Njihad McCoy and cornerback Donte Jamison, who scored the Indians' only points.

On the last play of the first half, Jamison returned an interception 70 yards to give the visitors a 6-0 lead.

"You have to re-group," Hendricks said of the halftime situation. "Our kids did a great job of that."

Kingsway got good play from defensive tackle Branden Schneider, linebacker Blake Tambone and cornerbacks Bosket and Alex Odom, among others.

In the first half, Pennsauken managed just 25 yards and one first down.

"This win goes to the defense," said Bosket, who recorded a sack to end Pennsauken's final drive.

Bosket's touchdown came on another Pennsauken punting situation as a low snap created a fumble that rolled into the end zone.

Bosket came away with the football for a 14-6 lead with 5:11 on the clock.

"My first TD in high school," said Bosket, a senior defensive back. "I was blitzing, and I saw it roll, and I just went for it."

Moments later, Butler scored on a two-yard run after Savion Gardner, a Woodbury transfer playing his first game for Kingsway, returned an interception 36 yards to the Pennsuaken 20.

"He ran hard," Hendricks said of Butler. "He got the hard yards for us tonight."

Butler's punt return, along with Mike Tanzola's clutch extra-point kick, gave Kingsway the lead for the first time.

Ironically, Pennsauken wasn't going to punt as the Indians' faced a fourth-and-8 at the Kingsway 35, after using more than five minutes off the clock in the Indians' best offensive drive of the game.

But a false-start penalty pushed the visitors back to the 40, and McCoy unleashed his best punt of the night, a high drive that drove Butler back to the four-yard line.

He was supposed to let it go.

Instead, he made the play of the game.

"I saw a seam," Butler said. "I hit it."

Pennsauken     0   6   0   0 – 6

Kingsway       0   0   0   21 – 21

P: Donte Jamison 70 interception return (pass fail)

K: A.J. Butler 96 punt return (Mike Tanzola kick)

K: Semaj Bosket fumble recovery in end zone (Tanzola kick)

K: Butler 2 run (Tanzola kick)