24 Honored at K-State Team Awards Banquet

Friday night at McCain Auditorium, the K-State football program held their annual awards banquet. If any of you happened to attend, we'd love to get your observations in the comments. For now, we'll just have to settle for the list.

Defensive lineman Will Geary received the Overachiever Award, given to the top freshman in strength and conditioning.

The Red Raider Award, going to the top contributor on the scout team, went to redshirt freshman quarterback Jesse Ertz, which is potentially a good sign down the road.

Wideout Stanton Weber was given the Scholar-Athlete Award.

Quarterback Daniel Sams and linebacker Tre Walker shared the Kevin Saunders "Never Give Up" Award, while the Ken Ochs Courage Award went to offensive lineman Boston Stiverson.

Seven players were presented with special memorial awards, all of which essentially honor "being hard-working leaders". The Bob Cope Memorial Award, reserved for senior walk-ons, went to wide receiver Stephen Johnson. Linebacker Blake Slaughter and defensive end Taylor Godinet shared the Anthony A. Bates Memorial Award, while offensive linemen B.J. Finney and Cornelius Lucas split the Joan Friederich Award. The Nancy Bennett Memorial Award went to linebacker Jonathan Truman for his positivity, and quarterback Jake Waters was presented with the Jim "Shorty" Kleinau Award.

The much-maligned safety Dylan Schellenberg earned the Purple Pride Award, a walk-on award for leadership.

The team's Most Improved Defensive Players were defensive back Dante Barnett and lineman Chaquil Reed. Their counterparts on offense were receiver Curry Sexton and lineman Tavon Rooks.

Finney and Cody Whitehair shared the Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award, and the Defensive Front Seven Player of the Year was Ryan Mueller.

Weston Hiebert and Tramaine Thompson were rewarded as co-Special Teams Players of the Year.

And finally, Tyler Lockett and Ty Zimmerman received the team's Most Valuable Player awards on offense and defense.