The final 12 minutes, however, weren’t as kind to the Red & Green.

Orchard Park scored two touchdowns in the period, one via a run by senior running back Jherek Breske and the other on a Jayden Hassett-to-Jonathan Pugliese fourth-down pass, to secure a 30-19 come-from-behind victory.

The win, which raised the Quakers’ record to 2-2 overall and 2-1 in the league, was a showcase for Breske, who finished with 177 yards rushing on 26 carries, three touchdowns, three 2-point conversion runs and several outstanding field-position-altering punts. Ultimately, it was his 21-yard TD burst two plays into the fourth quarter and his subsequent successful conversion run that put the Quakers in the lead for good 22-19.

And when junior QB Hassett, facing a fourth-and-10 at the Jamestown 15-yard line, connected with Pugliese, the senior wideout, in the corner of the end zone with three and a half minutes remaining in the game, the outcome was all but decided.

Jamestown running back Chase Bonta, middle, runs through attempted tackles by a pair of Orchard Park defenders during Saturday’s Class AA football game at Orchard Park High School. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

“They did things a little bit better than us,” Red & Green head coach Tom Langworthy said postgame. “They had more explosive plays than we did today.”

For the majority of the afternoon, however, Jamestown — behind the bruising running of Bonta — and Orchard Park — spearheaded by the speed and elusiveness of Breske — were playing on even terms.

The Red & Green (2-2, 1-1), which was coming off Week 3’s dramatic victory over Lancaster, opened the game with a 21-play, 84-yard drive that was capped by Bonta’s 4-yard run. The possession consumed 10 1/2 minutes on the clock. The point-after kick failed, but Jamestown led 6-0 with 1:28 remaining in the first quarter.

From there, the teams took turns finding the end zone the rest of the first half. Breske scored on a 6-yard run; Bonta found paydirt on a 3-yard burst; and Breske — again — dove in from the 1.

“The way we played in the first half is really the way you want to play,” Langworthy said. “Ball control and being physical in the run game. We were able to throw some screens out there to make us multi-dimensional, so our game plan really did work early, but we just didn’t execute down the stretch.”

Armed with a 14-13 lead at the break, the Quakers put together a nine-play drive to start the third quarter, but a bad snap put them in third and long, which forced a punt. Three minutes later, Jamestown used a 31-yard pass from Jamestown sophomore quarterback Jackson Grey to senior Nate Sanchez and Bonta’s 44-yard touchdown run to jump back into the lead 19-14 with 3:04 left in the third quarter.

After that, though, it was all Orchard Park, led by Breske.

“He’s a strong kid,” Langworthy said. “It was hard to get him down, and we had some problems tackling. … I thought the Orchard Park offensive line opened some holes for him and we seemed to have a hard time getting him down on the first hit. I think that was a big part of their success.”

Next for the Red & Green is Bennett, another Class AA opponent. That game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Strider Field.

“I know the guys are frustrated,” Langworthy said. “We really wanted this, but it didn’t work out today. We just have to continue to work hard and try and continue to grow as a team.”

NOTES: Bonta finished with 157 yards on 28 carries. … Grey completed 9 of 19 passes for 91 yards. He was intercepted once. … Evan Maloney booted an extra point. … After the game, Jamestown senior Eligh DeLeon and Breske were named “Heart of a Champion” recipients.

Jamestown 6 7 6 0 — 19

Orchard Park 0 14 0 16 — 30

Jam–Bonta 4 run (kick failed)

OP–Breske 6 run (Breske run)

Jam–Bonta 3 run (Maloney kick)

OP–Breske 1 run (pass failed)

Jam–Bonta 44 run (run failed)

OP–Breske 21 run (Breske run)

OP–Pugliese 15 pass from Hassett (Breske run)