By Carter McAlilly ‘22

The Crusaders were down early in the first quarter on a two play touchdown drive by the Redhawks. The Redhawks scored twice in a row, outscoring Brother Rice 14-0 in the first quarter.

At the start of the second quarter, the Crusaders had a new mindset and lit the fire. The offense made some great plays and the defense made some stops.

The Crusaders rallied behind quarterback Jack Lausch who led them through the game. Jack led the team down the field for two huge touchdowns. The defense stopped Marist after each drive and held the Redhawks to zero points in the second quarter.

After the second touchdown, the coaches made a gutsy call. They were going to go for two points. The play call was Tebow. Jack Lausch took the snap, ran up the middle, then jumped up and lofted the ball up to Henry Boyer, who caught the ball right in the middle of the end zone to score the two point play.

The Crusaders now had the lead going into halftime. After the half ended, the offense came out firing. Jack Lausch started the 3rd quarter with a huge touchdown run. They went for two again, putting the Crusaders up 23-14.

The defense was holding Marist down all night long. Dontrell Jackson, a run and gun qb for Marist, was held to -3 yards rushing the entire night. Dameon Hall and Sean Kinard also came up huge for the Crusader defense, each getting their own interception which led to scores by the offense.

Brother Rice absolutely dominated the game all night in every aspect. Jack Lausch said, “I loved how the entire team competed and played as one unit. It was a great win for us, and it gives us momentum heading into the playoffs.”

The Crusaders ended up with a victory over Marist by a score of 40-21. This was a great game from two good teams, but the better team won in the end. The Crusaders go on to play Wheaton Warrenville-South Township in the first round of the playoffs.