Chase Bonta entered that fraternity in an empathic way Friday night.

The 5-foot-9, 195-pound junior rushed for a school-record 373 yards on 30 carries and scored eight touchdowns to lead the Red & Green to a 63-0 Class AA victory over Hutch Tech in a homecoming to remember at Strider Field.

The win, which snapped a three-game losing streak, raised Jamestown’s record to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the division. The Engineers, meanwhile, fell to 0-7 and 0-5.

But the postgame chatter after the one-sided win concerned Bonta’s performance. His eight TDs — from 10, 14, 6, 6, 8, 1, 65 and 18 yards — tied a Section VI record, and his rushing output broke the Red & Green’s previous single-game mark of 351 set by Bret Shaw in 2003.

Jamestown’s Tommy Pratton raises the ball in the air after recovering a fumble during Friday’s Class AA football game against Hutch Tech at Strider Field in Jamestown. P-J photo by Tim Frank

Bonta, who now has — unofficially — 1,241 yards and 16 touchdowns on the season — found the end zone three times in the first quarter, three times in the second, and two times in the third. When he left the game following a 26-yard run with 1:12 remaining in the third period, his teammates greeted him enthusiastically upon reaching the sidelines.

Bonta’s response? “Ahhhh, I can’t breathe.”

Fortunately, his discomfort was brief, but metaphorically on the mark, because his performance on a cool fall evening was breathtaking indeed, thanks in large measure to a strong performance by Jamestown’s offensive line of Asziah Watson, Joseph Perry, Gavin Ford, Eligh DeLeon and Zeus Wilson-Earll.

“At 7:30 in the morning I texted (head coach Tom Langworthy), ‘Good morning, it’s a great day. I feel like I’m rushing for 300 today.’ I texted my O-line and I told them I loved them and that we were going to go to battle together.”

That “battle” was won in overwhelming fashion.

Red & Green’s Jericho Thagard leaps in the air for an interception. P-J photo by Tim Frank

“Our morale is back,” Bonta said. “Jamestown is going to be back, we’re going to be stronger than ever and it’s the right time to do it.”

For the record, the other Red & Green running backs on the school’s all-time single-game rushing list are Jaylen Butera, 339 yards, 2021; Brinton Battle, 298 yards, 1998; David Hinson, 273 yards, 1994; Devan Jackson 268 yards, 2015; Savon Vansickle, 264 yards, 2017; Butera, 262 yards, 2020; Hinson, 261 yards, 1994; Butera, 255 yards, 2020; and Butera, 246 yards, 2021.

“(Bonta) is aggressive, he’s a physical back and he’s very difficult to bring down,” Langworthy said. “He’s got a low pad level, he lowers his shoulder well and he rarely goes down on the first hit, which is great.”

Jamestown’s final touchdown came early in the third quarter when Luis Diaz scored on an 8-yard run.

“It’s one of those nights,” Langworthy said. “We really feel like we found our identity with the run game and the play-action pass. Looking at the big picture, last week at Lancaster, although it didn’t go our way, we really had a great moment as a team to like to say, ‘We can really play with anybody.’

“We felt like our best football was ahead of us and tonight was the beginning of that stretch.”

NOTES: The top three state single-game touchdown performances are 11 in 1996, and nine in both 2004 and 2021. … Diaz (16 tackles, including four for loss), Carson Panebianco (14 tackles, including two for loss, and a sack), Cole Bloomquist (13 tackles), Tommy Pratton (fumble recovery), DeLeon (fumble recovery) and Jericho Thagard (interception) led the defensive effort for the Red & Green. … Jarron Cotter was successful on five point-after kicks; Dominic Gonzalez connected with Panebianco on a 2-point conversion pass; and Mosiah Ramos added a 2-point conversion run. … The Red & Green will be back in action next Friday when they entertain Niagara Falls in the final regular-season game of the season. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Hutch Tech 0 0 0 0 — 0

Jamestown 20 21 14 8 — 63

JHS — Bonta 10 run (Cotter kick)

JHS — Bonta 14 run (Cotter kick)

JHS — Bonta 6 run (kick fail)

JHS — Bonta 6 run (Panebianco from Gonzalez)

JHS — Bonta 8 run (Cotter kick)

JHS — Bonta 1 run (kick fail)

JHS — Bonta 65 run (Cotter kick)

JHS — Bonta 18 run (Cotter kick)

JHS — Diaz 8 run (Ramos run)