Riverside Brookfield High School sophomore Jack Organ had quite a thrill in May playing center field for the varsity baseball team in the postseason. On the football field, Organ now is making an impact at wide receiver.
He had his first two varsity touchdown catches Friday, two of many sophomore successes in the Bulldogs’ 48-14 victory at West Chicago in the Upstate Eight Conference East Division opener.
“It felt awesome. I was always hoping for one,” said Organ, who had 29- and 28–yard TD catches from senior quarterback Braeden Novak. “At the end of summer camp, I got called up to start and I was pretty excited.”
The Bulldogs (2-1) had plenty to be excited about, starting with Novak’s 74-yard TD strike to senior Tim Giacomelli on the first play from scrimmage. With TDs on all first-half possessions, the Bulldogs led 41-6. Nico Caputo scored on an 8-yard run and 3-yard run with 49.3 seconds left in the third quarter for a 48-6 lead that prompted a running clock.
“We knew that we wanted to start fast. That was kind of our message all week,” RBHS coach Sam Styler said. “I think that (TD) really set the tone for what was about to come.”
Starting safety Dean Mauban and running back Tyler Schultz were among other sophomore standouts. Braeden Sloan, Matt Rimpila, Georgie Kirsch, Griffin Wojtulewicz and Vincent O’Keefe are the other sophomores on the online varsity roster. Another five sophomores joined them Friday after the junior varsity game was canceled by excessive heat.
“At the start, it helped having sophomores (on varsity),” Organ said. “I didn’t have a lot of people to talk to, but now after meeting the seniors and juniors I’ve built a great connection with them.”
Mauban caused one fumble and recovered that and another one. His caused and recovered fumble at the Bulldogs’ 19-yard line on fourth-and-one continued the momentum with only a 14-0 lead.
“We went over film and I knew the exact play. I knew it was going to be a rocket toss and I was in the spot,” Mauban said. “I got a lot of reps on JV, got used to it, but I think varsity is a whole different level.”
Mauban’s second recovery on a fumbled pitch at the Wildcats’ 33 just 1:00 before halftime led to the last first-half touchdown on a 1-yard run by Gideon Bradford three plays after a 28-yard pass to Caputo. Bradford rushed for 64 yards. Schultz rushed for 51 with an 11-yard TD for a 34-6 lead.
“My first touchdown on varsity, pretty great,” Schultz said. “I got moved up at the beginning of the summer and I’ve loved it. I love running the ball on varsity.”
“The sophomores we’ve had up all year have done a phenomenal job for us,” Styler said. “It’s great knowing we have a bright future ahead of us.”
That includes this season. Novak passed for another 288 yards (621 for season) but the strike to Giacomelli was his first TD pass of the season.
“The last two weeks, I’ve missed some downfield throws with a few drops but (offensive coordinator Brad Vojcak) told me Monday the first play of the game was going to be a deep ball and I connected it to Tim. I was just super-excited, a great way to start,” Novak said. “James stepped up (at receiver) and I think we’re going to keep clicking. At the start of the season, we knew a bunch of young guys were coming up and having a big role. That’s what they did for us today.”
Other defensive leaders were Bryan Rimpila (15 total tackles, 2 sacks), Brandon Ruiz (8 total tackles, 3 for loss), Jayden Lee (5 total tackles), Josh Villeda (3 tackles for loss) and Andrew Olivares (2 tackles for loss).
LTHS football
As a freshman in 2025, Lyons Township running back Jack Williams had two carries in the varsity season opener and then returned to the sophomore team until the postseason. Now full-time varsity, Williams sure is making the most of his opportunities.
“I love it. I like playing at the highest level of competition I physically can,” Williams said.
On Friday, Williams touched the ball three times with impressive results – three touchdowns and 212 total yards in helping the Lions (3-0) beat Morton 48-0 in Western Springs. He began by returning the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.
“Honestly, I didn’t really have to do much. The Red Sea kind of just parted for me,” he said. “My blockers did a great job of opening it up and I just had to run through.”
On his two carries, Williams had the Lions’ last first-quarter TD on a 57-yard run for a 34-0 lead and first of the second quarter on a 58-yard run.
“It’s a real fun time, touching the ball three times, scoring three times. But all because of the line,” Williams said.
“It was awesome to see all of the guys do their job and Jack take one to the house (on the opening kickoff). Just really proud of the way we started the game,” LTHS coach Jon Beutjer said.
On his two carries, senior running back EJ Kuhlman had 48- and 11-yard TD runs. Quarterback Brendan McCabe added a 6-yard TD pass to KB Barnes and Caiden Kovel had a 37-yard TD run, the game’s final score with 3:00 left until halftime. Wolfie Ketterling kicked five extra points
The offensive line included center Luke Vaupell, tackles Charlie Harrington and Edwin Martinez, guards Liam Corrigan, Thomas Green and Mason Price and tight end Owen Matela. Defensively, Evan Schwartz had two tackles for loss and Nate Fitzgerald, Aidan Webster, Jayveion Rimmer, Jamison Miller, Charlie Harrington, Santino Visalli and Declan Flynn one each.
“Credit to our offensive line, (offensive coordinator Brennan) Quick and Jack, too. He runs hard, mean,” Beutjer said. “Jack’s a wrestler, baseball player, really tough kid. It’s nice to have EJ and Jack as running backs.”
The Lions next visit rival Hinsdale Central (2-1), which won last year’s LTHS homecoming game 29-26 with a fourth-quarter rally.
