The Olentangy Berlin football team started strong and hung on late to notch a thrilling 27-20 win over rival Olentangy in the OCC-Cardinal Division opener for both teams Friday night in Delaware.

The defending-champion Bears got a little something from all three units — defense, offense and special teams — to take an early 3-0 lead.

After the defense forced a three-and-out, Zach Siegrist hauled in a 28-yard pass from Harrison Brewster on Berlin’s first offensive play to set his team up at the Olentangy 30-yard line.

The drive stalled after Mason Ziegler pushed the ball inside the red zone with a strong run, but the special teams took over from there, making the first of a handful of big plays when Spencer Conrad opened the scoring summary with a 24-yard field goal at the 6:47 mark of the first quarter.

The Bears (5-1, 1-0), which held the Braves’ offense without a first down over the first 12-plus minutes, led just 3-0 after one, but added to their lead early in the second quarter as Brewster found Josh Gavin for a 29-yard TD with 11:16 left in the half.

The 10-0 spread stood until late in the half, when Olentangy finally broke through thanks to a 15-yard TD pass from Ethan Grunkemeyer to Jackson Wiley, who broke off a route that looked destined for the corner of the end zone and found himself wide open in the middle of the field for the score 56 seconds before the break.

Olentangy (5-1, 0-1) tried a squib kick after the touchdown, but it backfired as Alejandro Aguilar returned it all the way to the Braves’ 45.

Brewster then hit Gavin for a big gain to the 23 with 42 seconds left, converted a third-and-four with a strong run to the three a few plays later and, a play after that, found himself in the end zone after a three-yard TD run that put his team ahead 17-7 at the break.

The Braves climbed a bit closer in the third — Grunkemeyer hit Gavin Grover for a clutch one-yard touchdown on fourth and goal. The play was set up by a nice play-action fake to P.J. Harrison with 7:39 left in the third, but Harrison was stuffed by Berlin’s Aiden Eviston on the ensuing two-point try, keeping it a 17-13 game.

Like they did after the Braves’ first touchdown, the Bears had an answer — this time in the form of Aguilar’s second big-time return. The junior fielded the ensuing kickoff at the one-yard line, found a seam on the right side of the field and raced 99 yards for a touchdown to balloon the lead to 24-13 with 7:26 left in the third.

After a 39-yard field goal by Conrad made it 27-13 late in the third, Grunkemeyer found Riley Clarkson from eight yards out to make it a one-score game, 27-20, with 4:19 left.

The Braves got one more crack at potentially tying or taking the lead, too, but couldn’t do much with the chance. Grunkemeyer hit Grover for a nice gain to the 40, but, four incompletions later, the ball went back to the Bears, who sealed the deal with a couple snaps in the victory formation.

Brewster led the charge with 174 passing yards and a touchdown to go with 59 rushing yards and another score. Gavin caught five passes for 87 yards and his TD while Siegrist had seven grabs for 76 yards.

Aguilar’s returns, which totaled 160-plus yards, were also key, as were Conrad’s field goals. Conrad’s now made nine of his 10 field goals attempts on the season.

Next up, Berlin will take on host Hilliard Darby while Olentangy will look to bounce back against visiting Thomas Worthington Friday night at 7 p.m.

Also: Delaware Hayes 31, Worthington Kilbourne 0; Big Walnut 42, Franklin Heights 7; Buckeye Valley 49, Bexley 21; Olentangy Orange 17, Hilliard Davidson 14; Dublin Coffman 24, Olentangy Liberty 14.