USA South Announces Football All-Conference Awards

(FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.) - The USA South Athletic Conference has announced its 2011 All-Conference awards for football. A total of 94 student-athletes have earned All-Conference honors. Ferrum College's Marcus Mayo was named the Offensive Player of the Year while Maryville College's Melvin Burston earned Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. N.C. Wesleyan College's Tazmon Foster was named Defensive Player of the Year while Ferrum's Josh Oliver earned Defensive Rookie of the Year accolades. Rounding out the individual awards was Christopher Newport University Head Coach Matt Kelchner who was named the Coach of the Year. The USA South also recognized an All-Sportsmanship Team, consisting of one member from each competing school. All honors are determined by votes from the football coach at each institution.

Mayo, a senior quarterback from Lexington, Virginia collects his second consecutive offensive player of the year honor. He led the Panthers passing and rushing attack this season by averaging 230 yards of total offense per game and scoring 20 total touchdowns. Mayo's 92 yards rushing per game ranked second in the Conference while his 12 rushing touchdowns led the league. In addition to his duties behind center this fall, he also returned punts, taking one back for a touchdown. For his efforts this season, Mayo was named a First Team All-Conference selection at quarterback and a Second Team All-Conference performer at return specialist. Finally, he was named USA South Offensive Player of the Week three times and Special Teams Player of the Week once this fall.

Burston, a freshman quarterback from Sarasota, Florida, was a dual-threat athlete who became a starter mid-way through the season. In just seven games played he totaled seven passing touchdowns which ranked tied for second in the Conference. Burston averaged 200.3 yards per game of total offense and tallied 13 touchdowns this season. Through the air, he averaged 131.7 yards and accumulated 68.6 yards per game on the ground. For his efforts this season, he was an Honorable Mention All-Conference selection at quarterback and earned USA South Offensive Rookie of the Week honors three times.

Foster, a Henderson, North Carolina sophomore linebacker collects player of the year honors a year after earning rookie of the year accolades. He compiled 129 total tackles and led all USA South linebackers with 16.5 tackles for a loss and five sacks. Foster's 73 solo tackles and 56 assisted take downs ranked second in the Conference. He also added one interception, one pass breakup, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery this fall. For his efforts, he was named a First Team All-Conference linebacker and Defensive Player of the Week once this fall.

Oliver, a freshman defensive lineman from Radford, Virginia, led all USA South rookies with eight tackles for a loss of 18 total yards. He compiled 34 total tackles, divided evenly between solo and assisted take downs. Oliver also added one interception, two pass breakups, one quarterback hurry and one fumble recovery this fall. His efforts this season earned him Second Team All-Conference honors at defensive lineman.

Kelchner collects his sixth career and second consecutive Conference Coach of the Year honor. He led the Captains to an 8-2 overall record and an undefeated 7-0 mark in the USA South which earned CNU its eighth conference championship. Kelchner now leads the Captains into NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in the program's 11 years of existence.

Offensive Player of the Year	Offensive Rookie of the Year	Defensive  Player of the Year	Defensive Rookie of the Year	Coach of the Year
Marcus Mayo Ferrum	Melvin Burston Maryville	Tazmon Foster N.C. Wesleyan	Josh Oliver Ferrum	Matt Kelchner Christopher Newport

The 2011 USA South Football All-Conference Team: