As a starting defensive back and special teams player, Riverside Brookfield High School senior John Evans Jr. rarely gets opportunities to touch the football. When he fielded a second-quarter kickoff Friday, Evans couldn’t be stopped. Evans’ 79-yard return for a touchdown was his first on varsity and among nine by the undefeated Bulldogs in their 67-8 home victory over Elmwood Park Friday to improve to 7-0.
“It was really such a great feeling getting to score, especially as a senior. It’ll definitely be a moment I’ll cherish,” said Evans, who last scored a TD as a sophomore on the junior varsity. “They had been kicking it to my side all day and I just told myself that I had to take one of them all the way. I had noticed that the middle of their kickoff formation was very open prior to the kick so when I brought it out, I ran straight up the middle and just had to make one guy miss. Other than that, it was really all of the work of my teammates in front blocking for me.”
The Bulldogs, also 4-0 in the Upstate Eight Conference East Division, continued their best start in program history since the 2001 undefeated regular season. This was their highest point total since beating Thornton 70-21 Sept. 29, 2023.
The Bulldogs’ last two regular-season games are at home Friday against West Chicago (4-3, 2-2) and at UEC East co-leader Glenbard East (6-1, 4-0) Oct. 24. RBHS lost to both teams in 2024 to finish 4-5.
“This season so far has been absolutely incredible. I’m so grateful to be a part of a team with so much talent and so many guys who have bought into the program, especially as a senior,” Evans said. “The thing I’ve enjoyed the most about this season has been being able to have so much success with the guys who I’ve been playing with for years. A lot of the guys have been with me since freshman year and some since fourth and fifth grade. I think that’s also contributed to a lot of the success we’ve had as a team. We have some really great team chemistry.”
The Bulldogs led 38-0 after one quarter and 52-8 at halftime.
As for the Bulldogs’ rotating junior quarterbacks, Braeden Novak started the opening series Friday with Giancarlo Garcia at running back. Garcia rushed 24 yards on the Bulldogs’ first play from scrimmage and Xavier Mrozik-DeJesus turned a quick out pass on the next into a 34-yard TD.
Jaden Barrett followed with a 5-yard TD interception return from a pass deflected by lineman Damian Nieves. The rest of the first-quarter scoring came on Nico Caputo’s 2-yard TD run after a Ben Biskupic fumble recovery, a safety on Warren Mason’s blocked punt that went out of the end zone, Jacob Retana’s 40-yard TD run and Garcia’s 11-yard TD run as quarterback. Jake Dudzik caught a 5-yard TD pass from Novak 27 seconds before halftime.
In the third quarter, sophomore Sean Ruckman entered at quarterback. Ruckman scored his first varsity TD on a 1-yard run and handed off to Damian Retana for a 55-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
John Bielobradek kicked seven extra points and turned two others into two-point conversions with a pass to Dudzik and run into the end zone. Ben Weisman added a second-quarter interception.
LTHS football
Senior Ryland Avants is lending a foot to another strong Lyons Township season. Already a varsity standout for the soccer team, Avants also is playing football for the first time. On Friday, Avants kicked 36 and 23-yard field goals and an extra point in the first half of the Lions’ 32-6 victory at Oak Park and River Forest Friday.
“I went to a practice, the coaches saw my potential and they put me on the team. Ever since then it’s been a great time,” Avants said earlier this season. “You just have one job to do. You hit it or you don’t but the atmosphere for football is very different (than soccer). Kicking, it’s like all eyes are on you, all the pressure. If you mess up, you kind of feel bad but it is what it is. I would definitely compare it to taking a penalty kick (in soccer).”
The Lions (5-2, 2-2 in West Suburban Conference Silver Division) became playoff eligible with Downers Grove North (6-1, 4-1) and York (5-2, 3-1) remaining this regular season.
Even with drives affected by mistakes, LTHS led 13-0 at halftime at OPRF (2-5, 1-4). Brady Rusk caught a 9-yard TD pass from quarterback Jack Slightom for a 10-0 lead and Avants’ second field goal came as time expired. In the second half, Slightom had TD passes to Grant Smith of 21 and 26 yards and EJ Kuhlman had a 43-yard TD run.
“I would say there were times we executed well. I thought the second half was much better,” LTHS coach Jon Beutjer said. “I don’t think we’ve played a complete game yet. The biggest improvement was we didn’t give up a lot of explosive plays, like we’ve done in the losses we’ve had, and we also had a bunch of explosive plays in the run and pass game.”
Kuhlman rushed for 171 yards on 23 carries. Slightom was 10 for 14 passing for 200 yards with Smith (4 catches, 101 yards) and Brady Koren (3 catches, 77 yards) the top targets. Anthony Pearson had two interceptions. Nathan Fitzgerald (6 tackles), Patrick Cheney (5 tackles), Roman Sosnovyy, Cole Harris, Brock Curtin and Rudy Rangel combined on tackles for loss and Koren had five tackles.
Avants was encouraged to try kicking by friends Sosnovyy and lineman Jimmy Hillmann. What also helped was discovering that there were no conflicts between the soccer and football game schedules.
“That was the first thing we looked at,” said Avants, who has kicked a 60-yarder in practice. “I knew I could kick a football pretty far but the more practice I get, the longer range I get. It’s all about practice and the mental part of it.”
He’s actually among three LTHS kickers. Senior Dylan Wolf handles kickoffs, and sophomore Wolfie Ketterling, also a varsity soccer player, has been punting.
A couple of times weekly, Avants and Ketterling attend the starts of football practice for about 30 minutes at the south campus. Avants then drives them to the soccer practice field by the north campus.
“We’re very thankful to coach (Paul) Labbato and the soccer program. And the soccer program’s having a good year (14-3-2, 4-1 in Silver),” Beutjer said. “When you have a good kicking game, it can make the difference in the game.”
Melvin Tate contributed to this report