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LakeForestLeader.com SPORTS<br />
the lake forest leader | July 12, 2018 | 31<br />
Going Places<br />
Scouts’ kicker finds new home at DePauw<br />
Brittany Kapa, Sports Editor<br />
Claire Esker/<br />
22nd Century Media<br />
1st-and-3<br />
Net Gain:<br />
Quick Facts<br />
1. Tommy Hanson<br />
(ABOVE)<br />
The Lake Forest<br />
High School rising<br />
senior forward<br />
helped get the<br />
Scouts back<br />
on track during<br />
their Net Gain<br />
game against Orr<br />
Academy.<br />
2. Two-year total<br />
In just two years<br />
of holding the Net<br />
Gain charity game<br />
the fundraiser<br />
has raised over<br />
$40,000 to<br />
support inner-city<br />
athletic programs.<br />
3. Rich Telander.<br />
The Chicago Sun-<br />
Times reporter<br />
shed light to the<br />
struggles Orr<br />
Academy players<br />
faced growing up<br />
on Chicago’s west<br />
side while trying to<br />
have a successful<br />
season.<br />
Jack Brush never expected<br />
to play football in<br />
college.<br />
The 2018 graduate of<br />
Lake Forest High School<br />
was the Scouts go-to kicker<br />
and punter for the last<br />
two seasons.<br />
However, Brush started<br />
off feeling unsure about<br />
his role as kicker.<br />
“Coming into high<br />
school I wasn’t really<br />
much of a kicker,” he said.<br />
But with practice, and<br />
the help of the Scouts<br />
coaching staff, by his junior<br />
year Brush had grown<br />
comfortable and confident<br />
kicking for the Scouts. By<br />
the end of his junior season<br />
Brush had complete<br />
28 of 30 point-after attempts<br />
and was 3-for-3 on<br />
field goals.<br />
“Coming into high<br />
school I had no idea<br />
I would end up playing<br />
football in college,”<br />
Brush said. “I only really<br />
decided I wanted to play<br />
in college during my junior<br />
year.”<br />
Brush credited Lake<br />
Forest coach Chuck Spagnoli<br />
with helping him<br />
realize he could go farther<br />
with his football career.<br />
Spagnoli would have<br />
coaches from both Division-I<br />
and Division-III<br />
schools come in and talk<br />
to his players. After that it<br />
only took Brush one visit<br />
to DePauw University to<br />
Jack Brush (left) will play for DePauw University this<br />
fall.<br />
know that was the right<br />
college for him. It was<br />
then that Brush started<br />
taking the necessary steps<br />
to make himself known to<br />
recruiters.<br />
“My parents said it<br />
might be a good idea to<br />
keep on playing if I really<br />
wanted to,” Brush said. “I<br />
just ended up starting to<br />
look at colleges and signing<br />
up on the recruiting<br />
websites.”<br />
Brush created a profile<br />
on Next College Student<br />
Athlete’s recruiting<br />
website and it didn’t take<br />
long for Brush to get a<br />
response from his No. 1<br />
choice. DePauw was the<br />
only college Brush applied<br />
to and when he was<br />
accepted he knew everything<br />
as falling into place<br />
nicely.<br />
“I knew of DePauw, so<br />
when they sent me something<br />
I thought it was pretty<br />
awesome that they sent<br />
me that,” he said.<br />
Brush won’t be the only<br />
Scout on the Tigers roster<br />
either, former Lake Forest<br />
teammate Andrew Athenson,<br />
a defensive back,<br />
played for the team in<br />
the 2017 season and current<br />
teammates Matthew<br />
Barigazzi, also a defensive<br />
back, will join Brush at the<br />
school this fall. And having<br />
those two familiar faces<br />
will make the transition<br />
much easier, Brush said.<br />
Brush has spent most of<br />
the summer following De-<br />
Pauw’s workout program,<br />
that was provided, and<br />
working on his kicking<br />
skills. Currently, Brush’s<br />
accuracy is consistent at<br />
Jack Brush, shown here last season, punts the ball for<br />
the Scouts. Photos Submitted<br />
45 yards, but he’s pushing<br />
to get comfortable with<br />
50-yard kicks. Last season,<br />
Brush used a block<br />
to kick off and part of his<br />
summer training is getting<br />
used to kicking off the<br />
ground.<br />
Brush also added that<br />
incoming freshman do<br />
see playing time, just on<br />
DePauw’s junior varsity<br />
squad, which was appealing<br />
for him.<br />
“That will help me out<br />
getting a feel of what college<br />
football is like,” he<br />
said. “I’m hoping that I<br />
can get better with my<br />
range with field goals and<br />
just kicking the ball further<br />
in the kickoffs.”<br />
Listen Up<br />
“It is really cool to be able to interact with kids who<br />
aren’t necessarily from the same background as<br />
you.”<br />
Tommy Hanson — <strong>LF</strong>HS basketball player, on Net Gain’s impact<br />
tune in<br />
<strong>LF</strong> Sailing North Shore Cup<br />
Youth sailors compete on their home waters for<br />
the 17th year.<br />
• Forest Park Beach, Friday, July 20, 9 a.m.-<br />
5 p.m.<br />
Index<br />
29 - Foresters’ New Coaches<br />
28 - Athlete of the Week<br />
Fastbreak is compiled by Sports Editor<br />
Brittany Kapa. Send any questions or comments to<br />
b.kapa@22ndcenturymedia.com.
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