Jamestown senior captains, in front, from left: Zeus Wilson-Earll, Adam Kubera, Tommy Pratton, Cole Bloomquist and Carson Panebianco are pictured with the Red & Green coaching staff during Section VI media day Tuesday at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. P-J photo by Christian Storms

ORCHARD PARK — Accompanied by their coaching staff, Jamestown seniors Carson Panebianco, Cole Bloomquist, Adam Kubera, Zeus Wilson-Earll and Tommy Pratton make their way down the concrete steps at the tunnel end of Highmark Stadium.

It’s Tuesday morning and their destination, on Section VI media day, is a special place, one they’ve been hoping for months that they’d see in person by mid-November.

On one hand, they’re about to step foot on a patch of artificial turf normally occupied by the Buffalo Bills. More importantly, however, is the anticipation they feel of playing in the biggest game of their careers.

As head coach Tom Langworthy, who will make his eighth sectional final appearance in 17 years at the helm, takes it in, all he can do is smile.

“It is always special to come here,” he says. “It doesn’t get lost on us that for our section final we get to play at the NFL stadium of our local team that most everyone roots for, including myself.

“As you gain more experience with these games, you realize that you have to make sure that the attraction of being here doesn’t take away from what you need to do on Friday night. We’re happy to be here, but we know we have a job to do.”

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The Red & Green’s opponent in the Class AA championship game, which is scheduled for 8 p.m. tomorrow, will be longtime rival Lancaster.

By any measure, it figures to be a good one.

Consider:

≤ Lancaster (8-2) is the No. 2 seed and is coming off a 41-9 semifinal victory over No. 3 Orchard Park; Jamestown (6-4) is the fourth seed and is fresh off an impressive 28-16 semifinal win over No. 1 Bennett.

≤ The Legends are ranked 21st in this week’s New York State Sportswriters Association Class AA poll, while the Red & Green are 26th.

≤ Lancaster has won five straight games; Jamestown has claimed four in a row.

≤ The Legends are a threat through the air and on the ground, but so is the Red & Green, which is led by junior Chase Bonta, who has rushed for 1,799 yards and 24 touchdowns.

≤ Lancaster boasts five players with at least 50 tackles; Jamestown has seven, led by Bloomquist with 127 stops.

≤ The Legends have scored 366 points and given up 162, while the Red & Green lead all of Class AA with 376 points scored compared to 183 allowed.

≤ Lancaster will be making its ninth straight appearance in the sectional final compared to Jamestown’s ninth in the last 17 years.

≤ In their first meeting this season at Lancaster, the Legends won 20-13.

Sounds like two evenly matched teams, right?

Langworthy thinks so.

“There are a lot of similarities between the two programs,” he said. “(Lancaster) is a physical team. They pride themselves on playing solid defense, they can be explosive, but the kids really play hard, and they’ve been here before.”

How does nine straight times to the sectional final sound?

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The Red & Green enter the sectional final playing its best football of the season. Led by Bonta and the offensive line of junior Asziah Watson, junior Joseph Perry, junior Gavin Ford, junior Eligh DeLeone and senior Wilson-Earll, Jamestown’s running game has been dynamite, particularly during its four-game winning streak.

“We’re a running team, but we’re an explosive running team,” Langworthy said.

It starts with Bonta.

“He’s really gone above and beyond this season,” Langworthy added. ” … I think it’s very clear he’s one of the top players in our area.”

But just when defenses have geared up for the 5-foot-9, 195-pound junior, junior quarterback Dominic Gonazalez has come up big through the air. He has completed 56 of 101 passes for 817 yards and 11 touchdowns. His top targets are seniors Panebianco (23 receptions, 292 yards, six touchdowns) and Ayden Samuelson (16-450-5).

Jamestown’s defense is anchored by Bloomquist, also a senior, but he has had plenty of help from a unit that has gotten better every week, highlighted by its performance in the semifinal win over Bennett.

“What I’m really proud of is how we’ve been able to improve,” Langworthy said. “And now we’re playing with a lot of confidence, playing with a lot of swagger. It’s a great time of year to have some confidence and have the swagger, the quiet confidence, and we just know we’re going to go out on the field and get the job done.”

It likely won’t be easy.

The Legends sport a balanced offensive attack, led by senior quarterback Alex Krupa, who has completed 141 of 210 passes for 1,843 yards and 17 touchdowns. His favorite targets are seniors John Gang (56-733-7), Blake Minsterman (28-441-3) and Justin Hartwig (27-374-4). Junior Daniel Ahearn is Lancaster’s top rusher, gaining 881 yards on 173 carries and scoring 16 touchdowns.

Defensively, seniors Michael Falls, Brandon Budelewski and Nathan Myers are the top tacklers. Hartwig has seven interceptions.

After a season-opening, double-overtime loss to McQuaid, Lancaster had to navigate the injury bug, too.

“We never got down, never made excuses,” Legends head coach Eric Rupp said. “We just kept working.”

Now, Rupp and his players will square off against Jamestown for the second time this fall.

“I think they’re physical, they run the ball as well as anybody and defensively they do a good job and get after it,” Rupp said. “We have to be ready to handle it.”

The winner advances to the Far West Regional at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 22 at SUNY Brockport against the Section V champion.