"It was an improbable ending," said Burlington Township coach Tom Maderia, whose team has won three in a row.

Seneca also comes in with momentum. The Golden Eagles have captured at least a share of the Burlco/Olympic Liberty Division and have won four in a row.

"When I coached for John Bunting at Rowan, he said that when you win three in a row you can start believing in yourself as a football program," Seneca coach Bill Fisher said. "This is what I see with us, that we believe we can win."

Records: Burlington Township (7-2) won its first four games, beating Northern Burlington, 14-7 in OT; Woodrow Wilson, 26-14; Burlington City, 35-7, and Palmyra, 15-12. After suffering losses to Paul VI (20-14) and Pemberton (40-0), the Falcons have beaten Camden, 24-0; Florence, 17-6, and Timber Creek, 38-30.

Seneca (6-2) opened with a 20-17 OT loss to Timber Creek and then beat Triton, 38-7 and Winslow Township, 27-20, before losing to Eastern, 24-13. Since then, the Golden Eagles have beaten Moorestown, 41-14; Northern Burlington, 34-0; Shawnee, 14-7, and Lenape, 13-9.

Coaches: Fisher has a 42-39 career record, which includes two seasons at Triton. He is 31-30 as the only coach in Seneca's history.

Maderia is 130-59 overall, 90-28 at Holy Cross and 40-31 at Burlington Township

Key players: Burlington Township senior Justin Barner is a big-play performer who has completed 85 of 170 passes for 1,129 yards and 13 touchdowns. Junior Vinnie Pini has 26 receptions for 535 yards and eight TDs, while senior Will Martin has 29 receptions for 335 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Darryl Gleaves has rushed for a team-high 412 yards on 90 carries and two touchdowns.

Senior placekicker T.J. Maderia, son of the coach, has three field goals and has converted 20 of 21 PATs. Junior Xavier Jones (6-2, 230) is the leader of the offensive line while senior Wanami Omusu, has been a disruptive force on the defensive line.

Seneca has one of the best ground games in South Jersey, averaging 6.1 yards per carry. Junior Steve Greco has rushed for 773 yards and 10 touchdowns on 144 carries. Classmate Zac Johnson has rushed for 684 yards and seven TDs on 84 carries and senior Matt Massucchi has totaled 351 yards and three TDs on 59 carries.

Third-year starting senior center Ryan McMillan (6-2, 225) heads up a strong offensive line. Senior defensive lineman Nigel Gray missed the last two games with a dislocated elbow but might return to action this week. Junior linebacker Derek Pawlikowski and junior defensive back Mike Southwick join Gray as defensive leaders.

Outcome: There are no secrets here. The key is for Seneca to eat up clock and keep the big-play performers of Burlington Township off the field.

"You can't have three-and-out against them with the explosiveness they have," Fisher said. "We have to have long drives, that end up in scores."

Maderia admits that Township has the advantage in speed, but says that Seneca is awfully intelligent, which is why the Golden Eagles have been so successful.

"They are big physical kids who are never out of position," Maderia said.

So the key in this one should be turnovers. That is usually the case when two teams face each other and both are on a serious roll.

Pick: Seneca 15, Burlington Township 14

Contact staff writer Marc Narducci at 856-779-3225 or mnarducci@phillynews.com