Tanking makes K-State team captain
The Kansas State University football team has announced its five team captains for the 2017 season and one of them is Holton high School product Trent Tanking.
Quarterback Jesse Ertz, defensive back D.J. Reed, offensive lineman Dalton Risner, linebacker Trent Tanking and tight end Dayton Valentine – have been chosen by their teammates to serve as captains for the 2017 season, head coach Bill Snyder announced last Saturday prior to the Purple/White Spring Game.
Ertz and Risner are serving their second terms as team captains, while Tanking, Reed and Valentine are first-time selections.
A product of Mediapolis, Iowa, Ertz is the third quarterback under Snyder to be elected a captain on multiple occasions, joining Jonathan Beasley (1999-2000) and current K-State quarterbacks coach Collin Klein (2010-12).
Starting all 13 games under center in 2016, Ertz rushed for 1,012 yards and 12 touchdowns while throwing for 1,755 yards and another nine scores. He became one of three quarterbacks in school history to record 1,500 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in a season and one of only four in the nation to accomplish the feat last year.
Ertz is coming off a stellar end to his junior campaign in which he was named the MVP of the 2016 AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl, accounting for three touchdowns in K-State’s 33-28 victory over Texas A&M.
Reed, a community-college transfer, burst onto the scene last season as he led the Big 12 and ranked fifth nationally with 19 passes defended en route to Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year honors.
Ranking second on the team with 75 tackles as a sophomore, Reed intercepted three passes, including a 35-yard pick-six against Texas Tech. He also totaled a 28.3-yard average on nine kickoff returns over the final four games of 2016.
Risner, a product of Wiggins, Colo., started all 13 games of 2016 at right tackle after playing his redshirt freshman campaign at center. Despite the position switch, Risner went on to earn First Team All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches and ESPN.com.
A junior for the upcoming season, Risner spearheaded an offensive line last year that paved the way for a school record 5.27-yard per carry average, while the Wildcats ranked third in school history in total rushing yards (3,013) and seventh in rushing touchdowns (39).
A special-teams standout from Holton, Tanking has played in 34 career games entering his senior year, including all 13 last season in which he led the team with 12 special teams tackles.
Tanking also filled in at linebacker for a majority of the regular-season finale at TCU, recording a career-high five tackles and an interception at the goal line on the final play of a 30-6 victory.
Valentine, a native of Baldwin City, started all 13 games as a sophomore in 2016 en route to Honorable Mention All-Big 12 accolades. He caught two passes for eight yards but made his biggest mark as a powerful run-blocking tight end. Valentine also picked up his second-straight First Team Academic All-Big 12 nod in 2016.
K-State, which returns 45 letterwinners and 18 starters from last year’s 9-4 squad, kicks off the 2017 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 2, with the ninth-annual K-State Family Reunion against Central Arkansas in Bill Snyder Family Stadium. K-State then hosts Charlotte on Sept. 9, followed by a trip to Nashville, Tenn., to take on SEC foe Vanderbilt on Sept. 16. K-State’s five-game Big 12 home slate opens on Sept. 30, against Baylor.
