Georgia Southern honored its 2011 football team at its annual awards banquet Saturday night at the Nessmith-Lane Building.
Numerous awards were handed out, including All-Southern Conference and All-American honors, along with four team awards.
After a year of hard work on the practice field simulating the oppositions’ schemes, two Eagles from the scout team were honored by their coaches as Scout Team Players of the Year. Russell DeMasi won the offensive award and Walter Jackson picked up the defensive award.
The other two awards handed out were the Erk Russell Award and the team MVP Award.
 Offensive lineman William Maxwell, who appeared in every game and moved to center against Wofford, won the Erk Russell Award. In the game with the Terriers, he knocked down a season-best 17 defenders and added eight knockdowns in the regular-season finale against Alabama.
The senior led the squad with 96 knockdowns and recorded 10 or more in four games in the regular season.
An integral part of the Georgia Southern option offense and its success in the last two season, Jaybo Shaw earned the team’s MVP Award. Shaw rushed for 14 touchdowns and threw for another 10. He passed for the seventh-most yards in GSU history with 1,476 yards, and finished his two-year career fifth with 2,709 yards passing.
The Eagles (12-3) advanced to the FCS semifinals for the second straight season in 2011.