They say it’s not how you start, but how you finish that matters most … and the Olentangy Berlin football team finished a lot better than Olentangy Liberty en route to a thrilling 22-21 come-from-behind win Friday night in Delaware.

Down a touchdown with less than three minutes to play, the Bears (3-1) started what turned out to be the game-winning drive with the benefit of great field position — deep in Patriot (3-1) territory after a fourth-down snap sailed over the punter’s head.

Alejandro Aguilar started the drive with a nine-yard run before AJ Clark moved the chains to set up a first down inside the Liberty 15. Quarterback Aiden Eviston was stuffed on a keeper up the middle on the next play, but on the one after that, he hit Zach Siegrist for a 14-yard touchdown strike with 1:18 left.

Not willing to settle for the tie, the Bears went for two and converted as Eviston, scrambling for his life with three Patriots bearing down on him, found Colton Less streaking across the end zone for the conversion.

Liberty got the ball back at its own 20, but couldn’t get into field goal range as deep shots to Christian Moulton and Jake Struck fell incomplete in the final seconds.

As bad as things finished for the Patriots, they did a lot right in the first half. Antonio Kish broke the scoring seal with a one-yard TD run with 8:23 left in the opening quarter — a play set up by a 30-yard strike from Leonard to Struck — before taking a 14-0 advantage when Leonard found Moulton for a five-yard scoring strike midway through the second quarter.

Berlin answered with a two-yard TD run by Eviston with 1:26 left in the half, but Moulton helped Liberty score again before the break, taking a short pass from Leonard and making a man miss before sprinting 71 yards down the sideline for a touchdown with just 36 seconds left in the half.

Down but certainly not out, everything changed for the Bears in the second half as Eviston found Less for a 78-yard score less than a minute in that looked a lot like Liberty’s touchdown to Moulton just before the break.

Fast forward to the fourth and Eviston found an open receiver again, this time Siegrist for the score to set up the two-point conversion and Less’ heroics.

Eviston completed eight of his 11 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 59 yards and another score. Clark finished with 49 yards on nine carries while Less had three receptions for 93 yards and a score.

Leonard went 14-for-26 passing for 208 yards to go with two touchdowns and an interception. Kish had 50 yards and a score on 15 carries while Moulton finished with five grabs for 134 yards and two TDs.

Gahanna 31, Olentangy Orange 21

The Pioneers used a 14-3 second quarter to take a lead into halftime, but the host Lions outscored them 21-7 in the second half to put the finishing touches on a non-league win Friday night in Gahanna.

Cohen Weaver, who finished with 175 yards on the ground, had both the second-quarter touchdowns for Orange (3-1), which outgained Gahanna on the ground, 188-122.

The Lions moved the ball through the air, though, with Brennen Ward completing 19 of his 27 passes for 264 yards and a couple touchdowns in the win.

Also: Olentangy 35, Central Crossing 0; Buckeye Valley 16, Licking Heights 15.