Lake County Sentinel
Riverside’s Season Ends With 28-16 Loss to Brecksville-Broadview Heights
BY KEN KRIZNER
STAFF
(PAINESVILLE TOWNSHIP, OH) - Painesville Riverside came into the Division II, Region 5 playoff matchup at Beaver Stadium averaging nearly 33 points a game, having scored 97 points in its last two regular season games. But Brecksville-Broadview Heights clamped down on the high-scoring Beavers, shutting them out in the second half and scoring 21 unanswered points to come away with a 28-16 victory to advance in the Ohio High School Athletic Association playoffs.
Both teams came into the game on a roll, with Riverside winners of five in a row and Brecksville-Broadview Heights winning its last two games and three of out the last four to clinch a playoff berth.
But it’s the Bees that will travel to Medina Highland next Friday to play the No. 1 seed Hornets in the regional quarterfinals. Riverside, which made the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year, ends the season with a 7-4 record and a share of the Greater Cleveland Conference championship.
“They just made a few more big plays than we did,” said Riverside Head Coach Jeremy Ishmael. “That’s the bottom line. If a team has the opportunity to make a few more big plays, they usually come out on top.”
The Bees got big plays in all three phases of the game. Offensively, senior running back Zach Aquila ran for 130 yards and scored three touchdowns. Defensively, the Bees recovered two second half fumbles to halt any potential Riverside momentum. And on special teams, junior Deacon Toth returned a punt 81 yards in the third quarter that extended the Bees’ lead to double digits and made it difficult on the Riverside offense to stage a comeback.
“We went out and established the line of scrimmage,” said Brecksville-Broadview Heights Head Coach Dan Schreiber. “Then we did what we do best, which is run the football.”
As the game wore on, the Bees offensive line was opening bigger and bigger holes, allowing them to play ball control offense. “Our offensive line blocked extremely well all night,” Schreiber said. “They work hard in the weightroom and tonight, it paid off.”
Ironically, the game began as if it would be Riverside that would spend the night controlling the line of scrimmage. The Beavers took the opening kickoff and went 71 yards for a touchdown, converting three first downs and taking more than 7 minutes off the clock (as well as overcoming three false start penalties).
Senior quarterback Bo Brandehoff ran and passed the Beavers to the Brecksville-Broadview Heights 21 yard line. On a third-down-and-10 play, Brandehoff, under heavy pressure from the Bees’ defensive line, escaped two tackles and found senior wide receiver Jay Kyser in the corner of the end zone for a 6-0 lead.
Brecksville-Broadview Heights had a quick answer. Starting from their own 12 yard line, the Bees got an immediate boost when Aquila, on the team’s first play from scrimmage, went around the left corner for a 33-yard pickup. Aquilla added runs of 9, 11 and 12 yards on the drive, with the last run resulting in a touchdown and 7-6 Bees’ lead.
It was the beginning of a big night for Aquilla who picked up yardage when Brecksville-Broadview Heights needed it.
Schreiber pointed out that Aquila is a state champion in wrestling (he won the 165 pound Division I state wrestling title at the 2026 OHSAA State Championships), and he brings that attitude to the football field. “He has the heart of a champion,” Schreiber said. “He’s tough to tackle. It’s hard to deny him.”
While Brecksville-Broadview Heights had a quick answer for Riverside’s first touchdown, the Beavers had an even quicker answer to the Bees’ first score – just one play. Taking advantage of confusion in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights defense and late arriving players from the sidelines, junior running back Jaxon Moore took a handoff, went around the corner and was untouched as he scored on a 70-yard run to put Riverside back out in front.
The teams traded punts for the next several possessions when a key part of the game occurred. Riverside got the ball back on the Bees’ 39 yard line after a short punt with about six minutes remaining in the second quarter.
The Beavers got the ball the nine yard line and faced a fourth-down-and-short. Originally, lining up to go for the first down, Ishmael called time out and sent his field goal unit into the game. Senior Ante Zorchets converted from 26 yards with about 2:30 to go, giving Riverside a 16-7 lead.
On its next possession, Brecksville-Broadview Heights got a 49 yard pass completion from quarterback Alex Henegar to Toth, which got the ball to the Beavers’ 2 yard line. It was Aquilla who went off tackle for the touchdown to bring the Bees to within 2 at halftime.
More importantly, the Bees had the momentum.
Riding that momentum into the second half, Brecksville-Broadview Heights went 61 yards in 11 plays, mostly on the legs of Aquilla, who finished the drive with a 7-yard touchdown run for his third score of the night to give the Bees a lead it would never relinquish.
Brandehoff was sacked on third down on Riverside’s next possession, leading to Toth’s punt return for a touchdown. The Bees set up a wall of blockers, allowing Toth to get to the outside, avoid several Riverside defenders and race to the endzone.
“They really got momentum off of the punt return and took it from there,” Brandehoff said.
The Bees recovered fumbles on two of the next three Riverside possessions. And in the fourth quarter, the Beavers could not sustain any sort of drive, allowing Brecksville-Broadview Heights to run chunks of time off the clock until there was no time left for a late comeback.
Schreiber praised Riverside, calling the Beavers a really tough opponent. “We worked hard all week for this win,” he said.
Ishmael said Brecksville-Broadview Heights did as good a job as any opponent in stopping the Riverside offense. “They put their guys in position to be successful.”
Despite the loss, Ishmael takes many positives out of the 2026 season, especially sharing the GCC championship in the team’s first year in the league. “There is a lot to be happy about this season,” he pointed out. “It just didn’t end the way we wanted.”
POSTED 10/31/2026 00:28
Related Stories
Riverside running back Dominic Bottiggi gets knocked down by Brecksville defenders during the Beavers 28-16 playoff loss.
Photos by Ken Krizner
