Before the unbelievable Jesuit Varsity playoff victory against Plano West, both freshman football teams finished the season with a glimpse of the promising future of Jesuit football.
The Freshman Gold team notched two strong victories to wrap up the season. With a 45-15 win over L.D. Bell’s sophomore team, and 21-6 victory over Richardson High School, the Gold finished the season 9-1.
The Freshman Blue team showed promise and growth throughout the entire football season, despite ending their season with two close losses. The Blue team lost 20-12 to Celina High School’s Junior Varsity Team, a defeat understandable against an older group of players. They also put up a fight against traditional powerhouse Highland Park but lost a close contest, 20-13. Mr. Bob Wunderlick, Freshman football head coach explained, “Even though the Blue Team lost their last two, they showed improvement against Celina, a team they played earlier in the season, and against HP in the second half of that game.” Freshman Blue ended their season 5-5.
Louis Hartmann ’17 of Freshman Blue described his last two games simply as “really fun,” a reflection of what freshman football should really be about. Hartmann explained that the “last game was a loss but in my eyes the best game of the season.” After a struggle to keep up in the first half of their game against Highland Park, the Blue team came out in the second half and started executing. Hartmann described the second half as filled with “many sacks and amazing catches.” He continued, “The game came down to only a few points and was very intense. Although we lost it was a very heart-pounding and fun game.”
Coach Wunderlick reflected on the players’s progress throughout the season. “I think this class is the deepest class we have had in several years, including the Class of 2013. While [the 2013] class had some stars at the top and good depth, this class has super talent at just about every position, and this class is deeper from top to bottom.” He got even more specific, asserting, “there are some big and talented OL, some tall and athletic DL, and some excellent skill players. There is speed, and there are some hard hitters.” Obviously the class of 2017 has shown strong potential to succeed and propel the Jesuit football program. Coach Wunderlick finally concluded, “I think this class will represent Jesuit well in the future and, when you add them to the two very good recent classes who are now sophomores and juniors, the program is in great shape.”
Coach Wunderlick’s 16 years as former head coach of Jesuit varsity football gave him experience evaluating player talent and potential. Coach Wunderlick 
has brought much charisma, dedication, and love of the game to the freshman program overall and and to each of his players these past two seasons a Freshman Head Coach. He described the transition to his new position. “I loved coaching Varsity, but I have no regrets moving to the freshman level. Coaching is coaching regardless of the level, and I enjoy working with the ninth graders and with our great coaching staff.” Wunderlick affirms that Freshman Football is still very “challenging, but it is also very fun.” Less stress and less administrative work, contribute to making coaching more enjoyable. Coach Wunderlick concluded, “The freshman are enjoyable because they are young, because they are fun to be around, and because they want to do well. They keep me young, and that is important when you are pushing 50 [years old]”.
No matter how much time passes by, Coach Wunderlick’s legend as Jesuit’s beloved football coach lives on. Moving on to new phases in his life, rather than direct a group of seasoned Varsity players, Coach Wunderlick cultivates a field of new, anxious Jesuit freshman, teaching, training, and developing them for a future in the sport of football.
Photography by Nicole Pellegrino-Guardado
