By Aidan Nohava ‘25

On Monday, Northwestern’s head football coach David Braun, announced that Brother Rice graduate Jack Lausch will be starting at quarterback this weekend against Eastern Illinois University.

Lausch said, “It feels awesome to get named a starter this week. I am really excited for the opportunity and can’t wait to go out and compete with my teammates.”

Jack is currently a redshirt sophomore and has appeared in 11 games so far in his career. Northwestern is 1-1 on the season and is still looking for their first touchdown pass of the year. Jack Lausch might be the perfect person to fill that role.

Among the Brother Rice community, Jack Lausch is a name that still looms large. During his high school career, Jack was named Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year (2021), CCL Blue Player of the Year (2021), and Daily Southtown Football Player of the Year (2021). Additionally, not only was Jack an accomplished football player, but he was a standout baseball player as well. Jack was the 23rd ranked outfielder in the country according to Perfect Game his senior year. He also won the Tony Lawless Award, an honor given to the most valuable player in the entire Chicago Catholic League.

“Rice has contributed just by making me a better leader, competitor, player, and man. The lessons I learned while at Rice have helped me overcome adversity in college. As a football player, I developed so much at Rice and built the work ethic and routine needed to succeed in college,” Lausch said.

Beyond being a leader on the field, Jack was also a leader in the classroom. He was awarded “Junior of The Year” which is a recognition that only goes to one student in the junior class for his outstanding academic and extracurricular achievements at Brother Rice.

Lausch’s former teammate, senior linebacker Christian Pierce, said, “It’s super cool to see Jack earn the starting role. It’s been fun to watch his journey, but Saturday won’t be anything I haven’t seen before. All I will see is Jack Lausch doing what he does best: playing some football!”

Eastern Illinois is currently 1-1 on the year and are taking on the Wildcats this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Evanston. They are coming off a win last week over Indiana State University.

Jack said, “My coaches have just told me to be me, trust my reads, and go compete. They’ve put a great plan in place and are putting us in a great spot to play well this weekend. They just said to trust myself and trust my teammates.”

Jack Lausch and the Wildcats are preparing to pick up the win this weekend. You can almost guarantee that the whole Brother Rice community will be tuning in for Saturday’s game.

Photo Source:  Northwestern Athletics – Joshua Sukoff

https://nusports.com/sports/football/roster/jack-lausch/11586s