OGDEN — Central Washington kicker Josh Jones sent his team’s kickoff through the end zone after his team tied the game 7-7 in the first quarter Thursday.

That made him 1 for 1 in avoiding Weber State dynamo Abraham Williams.

Except someone on his unit had run ahead of the kick and was flagged for an offside penalty. Instead of adding 5 yards to the touchback spot, WSU had CWU redo the kickoff.

Jones still booted the rekick 5 yards deep into the end zone. But that wasn’t enough.

For the fifth time in his last nine games, Williams raced from one end zone to the other for a 100-plus-yard kick return for a touchdown. He hit full speed quickly, made just one tackler miss early while blockers muscled coverage players out of the way, and Marque Collins flattened Jones at midfield to be sure Williams made his way untouched to paydirt.

“Abraham — he’s the best returner in the country, so I expect that out of him,” running back Damon Bankston said with a smile after the game, a 35-10 Weber State victory.

A junior, Williams is three away from setting a new Division I record for career kick-return TDs. The current record is seven, held by a small group of players; at the FCS level, Weber State’s Rashid Shaheed stands with Montana’s Malik Flowers as the only FCS players to reach seven.

Return opportunities will be rare for the West High (Salt Lake City) alum. So taking it from that deep in the end zone may be how Williams gets some of the few chances he’ll have to change momentum in the return game.

“I’m going to trust Abe,” head coach Mickey Mental said. “I think that’s part of having electric players like Abe is, you’ve got to trust that they’re going to make the right decision. If they don’t, you correct it. At the end of the day, you’ve got to trust playmakers when they have that opportunity.

“Any time he wants to bring it out, as long as it’s calculated, I’m with him.”

It’s not just Williams, either.

Senior Haze Hadley made his return to the field after missing the second half of 2022 with a major leg injury.

Hadley shook off an early scare where he was rocked on a screen pass for an incompletion and ended up returning four punts for 58 yards.

In a game where a punt return of zero yards — catching the ball to prevent it from rolling is often itself a successful punt return — Hadley’s 14.5 yards per return was again stellar, like he’s always been.

“I think we’ve got, probably, the best two returners in the country, in punt return and kick return,” Mental said.

The Fremont High alum’s long punt return of 25 yards helped set up Weber State’s final scoring drive, ending the team’s 21-0 third quarter by giving WSU a 36-yard field to put the game away.

As usual, there are plenty of guys throwing big blocks or powering opposing players out of position to help make things happen in the return game.

“A lot of credit that doesn’t get mentioned is the guys on those units sacrificing and doing their one-eleventh and making sure (the returners) can get out and make some plays,” Mental said.

Williams and Hadley are carrying the torch Shaheed and WSU special teams began building under Jay Hill, which came with high-impact returners running behind hungry players cutting their teeth and trying to win reps in their position groups.

“Special teams over here, we really take that seriously because we really believe special teams is a way to help us win games,” Williams said one month ago as fall camp began. “It’s really important and it helps us all get better.”

Newsletter