Playing free safety, Walker helped preserve Timber Creek's 26-21 victory over Winslow Township when he made a key tackle to stifle the Eagles' comeback hopes.

With Winslow Township threatening at the Timber Creek 21-yard line with 56 seconds left, Walker brought down quarterback Bill Belton for no gain on fourth and 2 in a Burlco/Olympic Liberty Division thriller.

Timber Creek is 6-1 overall and headed to the Group 3 playoffs. The Chargers are also 3-1 in the Liberty Division and would share the title with Seneca if they beat Triton on Thanksgiving.

Winslow Township (3-4, 2-3) is still in the running for a Group 3 berth, but will have to beat Eastern next week to remain mathematically alive.

Tackling Belton might be the most difficult chore in South Jersey. The elusive junior can hurt teams in so many ways, especially with his legs.

"I had an upset stomach all week thinking of ways to try to contain Belton," Timber Creek coach Rob Hinson said. "He's as good as anybody around."

On the final Winslow Township offensive play, Belton started outside and then made a cut, but Walker was waiting for him.

"I wanted to contain him from going to the outside and saw him cutting to the middle, and got there and made the tackle," Walker said.

Belton rushed for 147 yards on 20 carries, including a 63-yard touchdown, and also threw scoring passes of 55 and 36 yards to Kelvin Wagner.

As for the final play, Belton made a split-second decision that played into Walker's hands.

"It was a sweep to the outside, but then I saw a hole by the tackle and I cut in, and he made a good play," Belton said.

It was almost as good as the one on offense that provided the winning points. Walker threw a halfback option pass and hit a streaking Damiere Byrd for a 56-yard touchdown that increased the Chargers' lead to 26-14 with 5 minutes, 7 seconds left in the third quarter.

"Coach asked me at halftime if I was ready for the play, and I was excited," Walker said. "The only thing I had to decide was whether to leave my gloves on or off."

For the record, he left them on.

"It felt great to score there and to win this game because these guys are our rivals," Walker said.

Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, although there were plenty of big plays on both sides of the ball.

Timber Creek scored with 52 seconds left in the first half tie the score at 14-14 on an 8-yard pass from Calvin Lowe to Dan Bednarik.

Temple recruit Nahjee Gibson, who rushed for 182 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries for Timber Creek, broke the tie with a 50-yard run early in the third quarter.

Winslow Township 7 7 7 0 - 21

Timber Creek 0 14 12 0 - 26

W: Bill Belton 63 run (Chris Reynolds kick)

T: Nahjee Gibson 4 run (Mike Barth kick)

W: Kelvin Wagner 55 pass from Belton (Reynolds kick)

T: Dan Bednarik 8 pass from Calvin Lowe (Barth kick)

T: Gibson 50 run (kick failed)

T: Damiere Byrd 56 pass from Niquan Walker (pass failed)

W: Wagner 36 pass from Belton (Reynolds kick)