Jamestown’s Jaylen Butera attempts to get away from two Orchard Park defenders during Friday night’s nonleague game at Strider Field. P-J photo by Tim Frank

There have been plenty of outstanding running backs in Jamestown’s storied football history.

Jaylen Butera is staking a claim to being on the very short list of its all-time best.

The senior rushed 32 times for 339 yards — 12 shy of the school record — and six touchdowns Friday night to send the Red Raiders to a thrilling 38-27 victory over Orchard Park in the season opener at Strider Field that had the feel of a playoff game in November rather than a nonleaguer before Labor Day.

Then again, when the two rivals from Chautauqua and Erie counties meet, there’s a good chance something memorable will happen.

Last night it was Butera’s time to shine.

Jamestown’s Jaylen Butera extends the ball over the goal line for a touchdown, one of his six in the game. P-J photo by Tim Frank

Again.

The 6-foot-2, 196-pounder found paydirt on runs of 23, 49, 7, 2, 9 and 47 yards, the last two scores coming 17 seconds apart inside the final three minutes to finally put the Quakers, a Class AA school, away.

Orchard Park had plenty of talent on the field, too, led by junior quarterback Ben Gocella, who tossed four touchdown passes — three to Dylan Evans and one to Kegan Mancabelli. The final strike to Evans from 5 yards out gave the Quakers a 27-24 lead with 5:30 remaining in the game.

Momentum Orchard Park.

Butera took it all back.

With a drive start at the Quakers’ 41, Jamestown called eight running plays — six to Butera — and he capped it with a 9-yard TD burst. Ella Propheter’s point-after kick was good, giving the hosts a 31-27 lead with 2:41 remaining.

Then the Red Raiders got a huge special teams play by an unlikely source. Kicker Caleb Bane drilled his ensuing kickoff off an Orchard Park upback and the 6-foot-1, 265-pound senior fell on the loose ball.

Armed with a first down at the Quakers’ 47, Jamestown needed just one play to finally put the game out of reach. Taking a handoff from quarterback Trey Drake, Butera raced 47 yards for his sixth TD of the night. Propheter’s point-after try was good with 2:24 remaining.

Gocella, who threw two incompletions and was sacked twice on Orchard Park’s last possession of the game, had an outstanding night, but the one mistake he made came early in the fourth quarter when his fourth-down pass was picked off in the end zone by — who else? — Butera.

“I knew I had to make a stop,” Butera said. “Once the ball was in the air, it was mine. That was the mindset. You just have to go out and get it.”

It was that kind of night for the soft-spoken young man from the city’s east side.

“It feels good,” Butera said. “I’m glad to see where our guys are. We can obviously get a lot better. It’s only week one, but you kind of get a general feel where this team is at right now and how much we can improve on and what the rest of the season will look like.”

His 339 yards on the ground is second on the school’s all-time, single-game rushing list, eclipsed only by Bret Shaw’s 351 yards, accomplished during the 2003 season.

“Jaylen is a special player,” Jamestown coach Tom Langworthy said. “He’s a great person … who is also talented. Those are players you’re just thankful to have.”

When Langworthy’s postgame team chat was complete, the Red Raiders lined up for an impromptu team photo. Sitting in the front row in the very middle was Butera.

Not surprisingly, he was grinning from ear to ear.

Langworthy had plenty to smile about, too.

“The big picture of this is that this game will pay dividends for weeks and weeks down the road,” he said. “To be in a dogfight against your rival in Game 1 after only 10 practices, I think, is a real confidence builder.”

NOTES: Defensively, Jamestown was led by Ty Shults with 11 tackles, Ben Anderson with eight, including five for loss, and Darius Freeney and Sean O’Brien with six apiece. … Drake completed 7 of 13 passes for 76 yards. He was picked off once. … Travon Blakeslee and Anderson had 31 yards rushing apiece. … The Cross Training Character Athletes of the Game were Monacabelli for Orchard Park and Joey Delgado for Jamestown. … The Red Raiders return to action next Friday when they travel to Williamsville South in the first game of their Class A schedule. … The Quakers entertain Grand Island.

Orchard Park 13 7 0 7 — 27

Jamestown 12 6 6 14 — 38

OP–Evans 43 pass from Gocella (Eagan kick)

JHS–Butera 23 run (kick fail)

OP–Evans 8 pass from Gocella (kick fail)

JHS–Butera 49 run (kick fail)

OP–Mancabelli 24 pass from Gocella (Eagan kick)

JHS–Butera 7 run (run fail)

JHS–Butera 2 run (run fail)

OP–Evans 5 pass from Gocella (Eagan kick)

JHS–Butera 9 run (Propheter kick)

JHS– Butera 47 run (Propheter kick)