By Dan Golon ‘20

Your newly crowned underdog Crusader football team took on the South Elgin Storm this past, frigid Saturday evening.

After a shaky 5-4 regular season, competing against some of the strongest teams in the state, the Crusaders have posted back-to-back no doubt playoff wins.

Saturday, at home, they took down the Storm by a score of 25-7.

Behind what some would call a new offensive showcase for the men in maroon and orange is sophomore Jack Lausch, rushing for two touchdowns in this weekend’s contest. The third touchdown was scored by running back Willie Shaw who scampered in to seal the deal.

Lausch has been humble in his success: “I like to think I’m not the only reason we’re winning games. I try to put my team in a position to win no matter what that means for me or my statistics. None of that matters to me as long as we’re winning games.”

Coach Malopsy’s defense was the unsung hero of the night.

Junior Mick Badke came up big time for the Crusaders on consecutive plays. Badke rushed past Elgin’s offensive line to secure a sack and a big loss for the Storm, followed up by another sack for a safety on the next play.

The game was officially sealed off when a wobbly, tipped pass from Elgin was eventually hauled in by senior Giacomo Iraci for the game-ending interception.

Iraci was questioned about his team’s success postgame: “We play hard, fast, and strong. We step out on that field every weekend with the goal of making sure that team is saying ‘I never wanna play Brother Rice again.’ “

The 2019 Crusaders, a little bit behind where they wanted to be after last years season, have shown no lack of postseason confidence thus far.