After finding stops elusive for most of the night, the Olentangy defense got one when it needed it most en route to a thrilling 42-34 OCC-Cardinal Division win over Dublin Jerome Friday night in Lewis Center.

The Braves, who moved the ball almost at will, looked to seal the deal with their offense with a little more than a minute left, going to the air on a third-down play from close to midfield.

Olentangy (8-1, 4-0) didn’t get the first, but was able to down the ensuing Cooper Tracy punt at the one-yard line. Jerome (3-5, 1-3), without a timeout, 99 yards to go and just 1:26 to work with, though, never got much closer as Jet Cornelius broke up a fourth-down pass to help the Braves hold on.

The Olentangy offense was unstoppable at times, turning a couple Jerome turnovers into third-quarter touchdowns to build a big lead.

After a fumble gave the Braves the ball deep in Celtic territory on the first drive of the third, Andrew Wilber powered into the end zone from four yards out to make it a 28-13 game with 8:50 left in the quarter.

A Kaden Gebhardt interception gave the ball back to Olentangy later in the third and, on the very next play, quarterback Luke Chilicki found Jackson Wiley for a 21-yard touchdown connection to balloon the lead to 35-13 with just under seven minutes left in the quarter.

The Celtics answered in a big way, picking up huge chunks of yardage through the air — QB Nolan Peoples found Matty Giannantonio for a 31-yard TD at the 4:11 mark of the third before hooking up with Jack Kacherski from 20 yards out for another score with 11:20 in the fourth — but couldn’t get closer than the one-score spread.

Chilicki hit Wiley for a big gain into Celtic territory on the ensuing drive and, after Chilicki picked up a third-and-five from the Celtic 15 with a keeper up the middle, Wilber scored from three yards out to set up the frantic final seven minutes of action.

The Braves, who won their eighth straight game to set up a showdown with host Berlin (8-2, 4-0) for the OCC crown next Friday night, didn’t waste any time breaking the scoring seal, finding the end zone on the first drive of the game.

A deflected pass on a third-and-seven play fell into the hands of Zach Alexander to move the chains before Sam Uhlenhake scored on a 58-yard pass from Chilicki at the 9:54 mark of the opening quarter. Uhlenhake did most of the work, taking a short screen pass down the sideline before making a cut back toward the middle of the field and beating a host of Celtic defenders to the end zone.

Jerome had some success on its first drive, moving into Olentangy territory thanks in part to a pair of strong runs from Joey Slates, but a fumble short-circuited things in the red zone.

Back in business, the Braves’ offense moved quick. A pass to an open Wiley pushed the ball to the Celtic 28 before another Wiley reception, this time a jump ball in the end zone, turned into a 12-yard touchdown to make it a 14-0 game with 1:36 left in the opening quarter.

Jerome answered with a touchdown pass from Peoples to Kacherski, but played from behind all night long.

Also: Olentangy Berlin 48, Marysville 13; Olentangy Orange 35, Hilliard Bradley 10; Olentangy Liberty 32, Hilliard Davidson 7; Westland 48, Delaware Hayes 28; Big Walnut 38, Dublin Scioto 10; Columbus Academy 20, Buckeye Valley 14.