The offense came up clutch in the fourth and the defense made a stop it had to have down the stretch as the Olentangy Orange football team outlasted visiting Hilliard Davidson for a 21-14 OCC-Central Division win Friday night in Lewis Center.

Down a point midway through the fourth, starting at their own one-yard line, the Pioneers (5-1, 1-0) went to work. Quarterback Levi Davis hit Terryn Thomas for a 32-yard connection on the first play of the drive to get out of the shadow of the end zone and converted a third down with his legs a few plays later.

No play was bigger than the one that came with 5:44 left in the game, though, as Davis, facing a fourth-and-six from the Wildcat 26, found some room up the middle before beating the defense down the sideline for a 26-yard go-ahead score.

Davis hit Thomas for the two-point conversion, making it a 21-14 game.

Davidson (4-2, 0-1), which racked up 235 yards on the ground, got in position for a potential game-tying score after Dayne Schmidt picked up a key first down in Orange territory and QB Johnny DiBlasio moved the chains with his legs, but ultimately came up a yard short.

With enough time for one play, DiBlasio rolled out, tucked the ball and headed toward the end zone, but was stopped by Will Musgrove at the one to seal the deal.

Davis led Orange, completing 11 of his 23 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown — a 17-yarder to Musgrove that gave his team a 13-7 lead at halftime.

The Wildcats went up 14-13 on a 36-yard scoring connection between DiBlasio and Kaden Windham in the third, but the Pioneers had the answers late.

Davis completed 11 of his 23 passes for 172 yards and a score to go with his rushing touchdown. Zane Konczak also scored in the win, taking a backward pass from Davis before reversing field and finding the end zone after he couldn’t find anyone open to throw to early in the second quarter.

Keevin Gibbon led Davidson with 120 yards on the ground while Windham had four grabs for 65 yards.

Big Walnut 45, Franklin Heights 12

The Golden Eagles scored three first-quarter touchdowns and never looked back en route to a lopsided OCC-Capital Division win over the host Golden Falcons Friday night in Columbus.

Nolan Buirley took care of the first two scores, powering in from one and five yards out to make it a 14-0 game before Brody Hatfield scored on a four-yard pass from Eli Stumpf later in the quarter.

Franklin Heights (2-4, 0-3) got one back when Robert Mullins scored via a 65-yard strike through the air, but Big Walnut (5-1, 3-0) scored the next 24 unanswered points to all but seal the deal.

Buirley had a big night, finishing with 15 carries for 93 yards and three touchdowns. Jace Murray and Payton Abrams also scored on the ground while Stumpf finished 9-for-19 passing for 91 yards and a score.

Olentangy Liberty 19, Dublin Coffman 15

The Patriots made the plays they needed to in crunch time, parlaying a two-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Leonard to Geno Saccoccia in the fourth quarter into an OCC-Central Division win over the visiting Shamrocks Friday night in Powell.

Liberty, which led 3-2 after the first quarter thanks to a 22-yard field goal off the foot of Sean Hendricks, made it 10-2 when Jake Struck plowed into the end zone from a yard out ini the second quarter.

Coffman (1-5, 0-1) took a late lead thanks to a pair of touchdown passes from Amari Valerio — the first two Christian Werling from nine yards out in the second and the second to Cameron Hairston for a 15-yard score in the third — but Liberty (5-1, 1-0) had the answers late.

Leonard completed 15 of his 22 passes for 163 yards and a score, seven of those going to Christian Moulton for 99 yards. He was also the Patriots’ leading rusher, finishing with 15 carries for 76 yards in the win.

Olentangy Berlin 31, Hilliard Darby 13

The Bears opened OCC-Cardinal play in style, racking up nearly 400 yards of total offense on the way to a win over the host Panthers Friday night in Hilliard.

Berlin (4-2, 1-0) got a boost from Alejandro Aguilar, who had 221 yards of offense all by himself, including an 80-yard touchdown run and a 60-yard TD reception.

Aiden Eviston was also solid, finishing 16-for-21 passing for 200 yards and two touchdowns.

Delaware Hayes 35, Worthington Kilbourne 27

The Pacers got back to their winning ways, snapping a two-game skid with Friday’s OCC-Capital Division win over the host Wolves.

With the game even at 21 heading into the fourth, Hayes (4-2, 1-2) outscored Kilbourne 14-6 down the stretch to cement the outcome.

Favour Akih had a big night, finishing with 37 carries for 207 yards and two touchdowns. Caleb Rowe was solid, too, completing 11 of his 20 passes for 140 yards and three scores — one to Caleb Christian, one to Garrett Brown and the other to Akih.

Also: Olentangy 35, Thomas Worthington 0; Bexley at Buckeye Valley, late.