Senior center Felix Sanchez often gets the first glance at the Riverside Brookfield High School football team’s potent running attack.
“It’s funny. I typically don’t notice it until they’re right beside me, but it’s nice to run up the middle with my boys all of the time,” Sanchez said. “The offensive line’s just doing great and I’m blessed to be a part of it. With this group, we’re always creating big plays, big run plays. I’m loving it.”
Behind plenty of runs, the Bulldogs amassed 557 total yards in beating visiting Thornwood 56-28 in their Class 6A state playoff opener Friday. RBHS (9-1), the No. 3 seed in its half of the bracket, plays host to No. 10 Wheaton Warrenville South (7-3) at 7:15 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6.
Beating No. 14 Thornwood (6-4) marked the Bulldogs’ first playoff victory since 2015 and snapped an eight-game playoff losing streak.
“That was the goal this week, make something happen that hasn’t happened in a long time,” RBHS senior Nico Caputo said. “We referenced (2015) definitely. That was kind of our next goal. Our first goal was winning conference (Upstate Eight East Division). Our next goal was a playoff game, two things we haven’t done in a while.”
The Bulldogs’ 338 rushing yards on 52 carries included six of their eight touchdowns – three by Caputo (8, 5 and 1 yards), two from Tyler Schultz (1 and 42 yards) and one from quarterback Braeden Novak (2 yards). Novak also passed for 173 yards with TD passes to James Organ of 6 and 33 yards.
As usual, the Bulldogs scored on their opening drive – 69 yards on eight running plays – with Novak scoring from the 2-yard line.
“Our offensive line has been blocking great all year,” Novak said. “Before the game, they told us we want to run it down their throats and that’s exactly what we did.”
The Bulldogs also won the turnover battle 3-1 with fumble recoveries from Nick Baca and Matthew Rimpila and an interception by Anthony Lembcke. The latter two came during a stretch of four unanswered TDs that turned tight 21-16 game 5:43 before halftime into a comfortable 49-16 margin with 2:49 left in the third quarter.
“They’ve been working for almost a full year (since Dec. 8 offseason) to get ready for this. This team deserved it,” RBHS coach Sam Styler said. “We have that confidence in our offense to get down there and score and put us ahead early on. That’s a huge feeling for us. They had some big plays, big drives but it’s playoff football. We’re going to play some good teams. That our guys stayed in the fight and found their opportunities when they could was huge.”
Riverside-Brookfield’s Anthony Lembcke (7) looks for running room against Thornwood during a Class 6A first round game Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 in Brookfield, IL. (Steve Johnston/Riverside-Brookfield Landmark) Credit: Steve Johnston 
Riverside-Brookfield’s Tyler Schultz (10) breaks through against Thornwood during a Class 6A first round game Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 in Brookfield, IL. (Steve Johnston/Riverside-Brookfield Landmark) Credit: Steve Johnston 
Riverside-Brookfield’s Nico Caputo (3) picks up yardage against Thornwood during a Class 6A first round game Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 in Brookfield, IL. (Steve Johnston/Riverside-Brookfield Landmark) Credit: Steve Johnston 
Riverside-Brookfield’s James Organ (5) hauls in a touchdown reception against Thornwood’s Kavion Young (2) during a Class 6A first round game Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 in Brookfield, IL. (Steve Johnston/Riverside-Brookfield Landmark) Credit: Steve Johnston 
Riverside-Brookfield’s Braeden Novak (9) tries to escape the tackle of Thornwood’s Samuel Oliphant (24) during a Class 6A first round game Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 in Brookfield, IL. (Steve Johnston/Riverside-Brookfield Landmark) Credit: Steve Johnston
Six Bulldogs shared rushing duties with senior starting tailback Gideon Bradford out for the season with a knee injury.
The offensive line of Sanchez, Daniel Amparan, Charlie Jicha, Joaquin Jara and Ryan Kubitz also received a boost. Lucas Olson, injured until late in the season, rotated in throughout drives.
“With all of these rotations, it’s all about physicality and playing for the man next to you, giving all you got,” Amparan said. “Being able to play another week with my family, my brothers, is the most beautiful thing.”
For the season, Novak has rushed for a 741 yards and 12 TDs and passed for 1,751 yards and 18 TDs. Caputo has rushed for 531 yards with eight TDs and caught 44 passes for a team-high 573 yards with three TDs. On Friday, Novak rushed for 101 yards and Caputo 98.
“I’m going to give all of the credit to the offensive line,” Caputo said. “There were gaping holes all day long. It was pretty easy when those linemen were working that hard and paving the way for us.”
Unveiling a play they’ve worked on weekly, Caputo set up the Bulldogs’ second TD with a 43-yard option pass to Tim Giacomelli to the Thornwood 28 with a perfect spiral.
“No (quarterback experience), but I play baseball so I’ve got a little arm on me,” Caputo said. Organ, a sophomore has 485 receiving yards and a team-high seven receiving TDs. With his second two-TD game of the season, Organ’s first put RBHS ahead 21-8. After missing a TD catch in the end zone just before halftime, Organ scored again on a 33-yard catch in the third quarter three plays after Lembcke’s interception.
“Being in the playoffs, first year on varsity, it felt really great,” Organ said. “I had my hands around. I should have come down with it (before halftime). It was a great throw by Bubba (Novak).”
“I trusted him again. I’ve trusted him all year and we scored (nearly) the very next play,” Novak said.
Henry Jurgens was 8-for-8 on extra points. Defensively, Bryan Rimpila had two sacks and six total tackles and Brandon Ruiz, Dean Mauban and Lembcke also had tackles for loss. WW South has scored at least 27 points in five victories and lost to Batavia and Geneva by a combined five points. Lyons Township beat the Tigers 18-9 in Week 2.
“Obviously, they’re going to be a very tough team but if there’s a group that can continue to shock everybody, it’s this group right here,” Styler said.