NOTRE DAME — Chaminade junior quarterback Lauren Jesic kept her eyes downfield and looking for teammates.
It was no different than when she is playing defender in soccer. Pressure is constant, and opposing arms, hands and legs are attempting to dislodge her position of assertion.
Football in hand or soccer ball at her feet, Jesic seems unbothered. She lets the ball fly from her hand and good things tend to happen.
Jesic accounted for four touchdowns — three passing and one on a daring 15-yard run with 3:23 left in the fourth quarter — to lead Chaminade to a win over rival Notre Dame, 24-6, on Monday.
Chaminade (5-2) won its first game over its Mission League rival, led by Jesic, who had never played quarterback until last season. In the program’s first year of existence at Chaminade, she began playing flag football alongside her close friend, Kaitlyn Nelson, who is also her teammate on the LAFC So Cal ECNL club soccer team.
Jesic showcased her ability to play flag football if she chooses, while holding a commitment to play soccer at the University of Washington.
“We thought it’d be fun to play a different sport and have a different experience,” Jesic said of her and Nelson joining the team a year ago. “We did a lot of offseason training during the summer. I think soccer helps me with my surroundings and being aware. Both of those combined helped me be a better quarterback.”
Jesic had three touchdown throws Monday. The best one? It had to be the 15-yard pass Jesic fired in the vicinity of Nelson, who made a leaping catch between two defenders before landing on her two feet. With a lunge, she got across the goal line.
“I knew she’d get me the ball and it came right to me,” Nelson said. “I just had to get it across the line. I see the ball and I just catch it.”
Jesic credited her athleticism to watching and playing sports with her older brother Andrew, who was a linebacker at Notre Dame. The siblings bonded over playing basketball.
“Through playing basketball, he taught me how to grow faster as a leader,” Jesic said. “He pushed me to different standards than I could’ve done with myself.”
The shootarounds with Andrew are combined with the eye-hand coordination Jesic believes she acquired from her father, Michael, who was born in Serbia before moving to the United States at 11 years old. Her father played water polo and soccer.
So it only seems natural for Jesic to have acquired a multitude of skills that helped her earn Mission League player of the year in 2025.
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“When we get into tight spots, we just tell her to be you and go make a play,” Chaminade flag football coach Cory Skinner said. “That’s what she does, and she’s starting to read defenses, use her arm a lot more, and it’s just going to make her more dangerous.”
Jesic hopes to set the standard not only for teammates now but provide a platform for the players that come after. The young children on the sidelines watch her zip the ball across the field, evade flag grabbers and use her footwork and athleticism to manipulate defenses in the fastest-growing sport for female athletes.
NFHS girls flag football participants jumped from 68,847 in 2024-25 to 102,360 in 2025-26.
“It’s such a fun and team-oriented sport,” Jesic said of flag football. “I think we are trying to make it as fun and as enjoyable as possible and not stressful, and I think that’s why the sport is growing so much.”