Kansas Pregame 8-Man Top 8: Jace Wunderlich

Kansas Pregame polled 8-Man coaches earlier this month who voted for the top four seniors they coached against this season. Kansas Pregame staffers then used those votes to develop a Top 8 list of seniors for each division. Check out another Top 8 capsule below, and find the complete list of Top 8 selections, and the honorable mention list, here for 8-Man I and here for 8-Man II.

After three seasons hovering around .500 in his first three years on the high school gridiron, Central Burden’s Jace Wunderlich helped lead the Raiders to an undefeated regular season that earned his squad a league title in the South Central Border League.

Wunderlich was a standout on both sides of the ball immediately as a freshman, serving as a dual-threat quarterback and a defensive back with a nose for the football. 

Offensively, he went 35 of 56 for 432 yards passing with six touchdowns and three interceptions in that freshman season, to go with 45 carries for 263 yards and six more TDs. 

On defense Wunderlich recorded 46 tackles, a sack, three interceptions, three pass deflections, and a fumble recovery.

Wunderlich’s freshman season would be the worst with him at the helm, as the Raiders finished just 3-6.

As a sophomore in 2021, Wunderlich and his team both saw more success as the signal caller threw for 806 yards and 17 TDs to just one interception on 50 of 65 passing and added another 591 yards and nine TDs rushing on 73 carries.

Defensively he was equally impactful with 91 tackles, a sack, an interception, a pass deflection, two fumble recoveries, and a forced fumble.

The Raiders entered the playoffs that season at 5-3 with losses to Sedan, Chase County, and Madison - teams with a combined 28-4 record at season’s end - before ending their season with a first round loss to 8-2 West Elk.

Wunderlich earned All-State and All-League honorable mention at defensive back, as well as  first team All-League at QB.

After Wunderlich’s sophomore season Central Burden had a coaching change, when former Central Burden head coach Jeff Savage was hired to replace Anthony Blair.

Savage had first coached the Raiders from 2009 to 2011 and led them to a 23-9 record in that span. In his last season there, Savage’s son, Bo, helped Central Burden to a 9-2 record while setting national awards in single season and career passing TDs in 8-Man.

The coach, who was at the time entering his 43rd year in the profession, most recently coached at Quinter during the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

“I saw film of Jace his first two years in high school and started coaching him his junior year,” Savage said. “His physicality improved each year. He worked hard in the off season to build
his body up.”

However, Wunderlich’s strongest trait would ultimately never be his raw power on the field, but rather, his relentlessness. 

“Jace's biggest strength on the field was his desire and heart to make every play. Jace took no plays off and was always around the ball on defense,” Savage said. “On offense he was difficult to tackle. Even though he is not a big kid, he was going to be hard to tackle.”

The 2022 season saw a young Raiders team start off in excellent fashion, going 5-1 with optimism toward the playoffs. 

Unfortunately, injuries to a trio of junior standouts Kaden Miller, Xander Woods, and Miles Easley left the Raiders depth chart thin, and the team dropped their final three games of the season.

Despite the tough ending, Wunderlich was phenomenal, going 128 of 226 as a passer with 1,700 yards and 28 TDs to five interceptions, along with 132 carries for 635 yards and 11 TDs on the ground.

Defensively, he recorded 99 tackles, 6.5 tackles-for-loss, a sack, three interceptions, 10 pass deflections, three fumble recoveries, and four forced fumbles.

The junior earned All-State honorable mention at defensive back and first team All-League on both sides of the ball, and despite the success, his coach still saw room for improvement.

“Our offense was built around his skill set,” Savage said. “After coaching him for a year I designed the offense around his talents as he was our best offensive threat. I made a decision to run him more than his junior season; I put in bootlegs with an option of throwing and running, some option and draw plays to utilize his best talents. Jace did so much to make our offense go, and I don't believe there was another offense that offered such a balance of run and pass.”

Savage’s tweaks were reflected statistically. Wunderlich was still impressive throwing the ball, going 82 of 120 for 1,411 yards and 22 TDs with only four interceptions, but his 125 carries for 1,132 yards and 22 TDs on 9.1 yards per carry was a major boost in production. Wunderlich also recorded a receiving TD in his senior campaign.

Defensively, he had 74 tackles, five interceptions, seven pass deflections, a fumble recovery, and a forced fumble.

The tweak also helped a more experienced Raiders team go 9-1, with their only loss coming in the second round of the playoffs against a Cair Paravel team that advanced to the semifinals.

Along with his Top 8 selection, Wunderlich was first team All-State at defensive back and All-League at both positions. 

After wrapping up his senior season, Wunderlich plans to continue his football career with Friends University, and leaves behind a strong legacy at Central Burden.

“Jace led by example and his work ethic and other kids followed, he was a positive force in the locker room as well,” Savage said.