Kansas Pregame 8-Man Top 8: Trey Vincent

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. Kansas Pregame will provide features for each of the 16 Top 8 selections. Check out the seventh of those profiles below:

Trey Vincent, QB/DB, 6-2, 165, Wheatland/Grinnell, 8-Man Division II

Wheatland/Grinnell opened the season losing to a young and talented Axtell Eagles team 62-16, before proceeding to terrorize a majority of their remaining schedule with an offense led by strong-armed and sharp-witted quarterback Trey Vincent.

The lowest point total the Thunderhawks posted in the next 11 games was 42 in a state semifinal matchup with perennial power Victoria. Trey - the son of head coach Jesse Vincent - was a production machine throughout the season, tallying 2,442 passing yards and 28 touchdowns on 148 of 251 passing with 13 interceptions. He also rushed for 505 yards and eight touchdowns on 60 carries.

In the process, he led the Thunderhawks to their best season in school history and first championship game appearance.

“Trey's best asset as a quarterback is his ability to audible,” coach Vincent said. “He understands the game and is like another coach on the field.”

Trey’s knowledge on the field was honed over four years of varsity time at quarterback, totalling 5,722 yards on his career with 78 touchdowns to 34 interceptions. But his abundance of varsity snaps are just one reason for his sustained improvement throughout high school.

“It started out going to NFA (National Football Academy) quarterback camps and learning the mechanics on how to throw the football correctly,” Vincent said. “I also learned how to read defense coverage and learned how to read DBs by looking at where their hips are pointing to know if the route is going to be open or not. These camps helped me grow as an overall quarterback, but my dad also had a great impact on my knowledge for the game. He played college football and some in the pros so everything he knew he taught me and that’s something a lot of players don’t get to experience. While he is my coach and my dad, we spent a lot of time talking football at home.”

Vincent was an impact player on defense as well, finishing the season with 31 tackles, a sack, two interceptions, and a pass deflection. 

“Being a quarterback helps me defensively because I know where our weaknesses are in our coverage and know what I would throw if I was the opposing quarterback,” Vincent said.

After dominating the regular season, Wheatland/Grinnell entered the playoffs with much of the same results, beating South Central 50-0, Bucklin 53-22, South Barber 46-0, Victoria 42-30, and then advancing to the state championship.

Much like American satirist Mark Twain famously entering this world and leaving it with Halley’s Comet, so too did Wheatland-Grinnell during the 2021 season, but instead of the famous comet, it was a determined Axtell team. Wheatland/Grinnell lost the contest, 44-18, and though the Thunderhawks made up some ground from the Week 1 loss, the Eagles showed why they were clearly the best team in DII, and behind a bevy of underclassmen who will make Axtell the favorite again next fall.

“We had a great season and all of our hard work in the weight room played a tremendous role in the end result,” Vincent said. “Although it did not end how we wanted it to, we made school history.”

While coach Vincent is losing one son’s talents, he does return Trey’s younger brother, Jett, who had 67 receptions for 1,341 yards and 18 touchdowns this season, along with 125 tackles. The younger Vincent is also one of the state’s all-time great ball hawks with 28 career interceptions and could break the 8-Man record of 32 next fall.

With high school football in the rearview, Trey is currently committed to play football at Ottawa University and plans to major in Business Management.

*Editor's Note: Kansas Pregame has opted to include only seniors in our Top 8 list in an effort to reward them for their success in high school. This year, especially in Division II, there were a number of top players who were juniors. Axtell's Isaac Detweiler, Wheatland-Grinnell's Jett Vincent and Thunder Ridge's Dylan Bice are just a few of those likely among the Top 8 players in the classification. Fortunately, multiple other outlets have recognized those athletes for their contributions this season and Kansas Pregame will consider each of them for feature coverage in our 2022 Football Preview along with the many other top returning players from across the state.