The 2022 Evansville All-City football team headlined by Co-Players of the Year
EVANSVILLE – The 83rd annual Evansville Downtown Quarterback Club All-City football team was announced on Monday.
Mason Wunderlich of Mater Dei and Roland Vera Jr. of Reitz were named the co-Most Outstanding Player of the Year. Cory Brunson of Reitz was named the Gary West Coach of the Year. The team is voted on by the City players and coach is voted on by City coaches.
Wunderlich is the senior leader for the Wildcats. The quarterback leads the City in passing with over 2,400 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also has six more rushing scores, including three in a regional victory over Triton Central. The senior has over 6,000 passing yards for his career going into the Class 2A semistate.
No. 6 Mater Dei (10-3) hosts No. 1 Linton-Stockton (13-0) on Friday.
"I have a great line and other great players around me," said Wunderlich. "Without the whole team this year, I would never receive this. My leadership has taken us far this year, but a lot of seniors have gotten our team going the past couple of weeks."
Vera Jr. did a little bit of everything for the Panthers. The junior caught 24 passes for 300 yards and registered 21 tackles from the secondary from his natural positions of wide receiver and safety. But due to an injury midseason, he also played quarterback for the City champions. Vera Jr. threw for 567 yards and eight touchdowns while adding 392 yards and six scores on the ground.
Reitz finished 10-1 with a loss to Boonville in the Class 4A sectional semifinal.
"This year was definitely one to remember," said Vera Jr. "It came with a lot of success. Way different from last year. We didn't finish how we wanted, but we still had that 10-0. Still fortunate."
Brunson led Reitz to a six-win improvement in his third year at his alma mater. Reitz completed its first undefeated regular season since 2010, and the Panthers were the outright Southern Indiana Athletic Conference and City champions.
Reitz won the SIAC by three full games. No team in the league's 88-year history had done that.
"There are a lot of great names who have won this as a coach," said Brunson. "I give it to my coaching staff. I'm very blessed to have a great staff who gets these guys prepared. (The players) worked very hard to get here. Our seniors did a good job, but fortunately we have a lot of juniors back."
Evansville All-City football selections by position:
Center: Quentin Boeke (Reitz)
Guard: Timmy Dixon (North), Edward Hartig (Memorial)
Tackle: Harlen Summers (Reitz), Jack Cassidy (Memorial)
Wide receiver: Xavier Thomas (Reitz), Leo Collins (Memorial), Hayden Summers (Reitz)
Quarterback: Mason Wunderlich (Mater Dei)
Running back: Angelo St. Louis (North), Jonas Burnett (Reitz)
Defensive line: Jayden Hazelwood (North), Kelton Farmer (Memorial), Levi Oxley (Reitz), Kaleb Harris (North)
Linebacker: Mitch Adler (Mater Dei), Carac Johnson (Memorial), Spencer Turner (Mater Dei), Alex Broshears (Memorial)
Defensive back: Asher Horn (Harrison), J’Khari Phifer (Reitz), Roland Vera Jr. (Reitz)
Follow Courier & Press sports reporter Kyle Sokeland on Twitter @kylesokeland.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Here is the Evansville All-City football team, Players of the Year
