BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced on Wednesday three Southwest Minnesota State University football student-athletes have earned All-NSIC South Division first team accolades as voted upon by the league's head coaches.
 
Senior linebacker Onte Burns earned first team All-NSIC South honors for the third straight season, while senior offensive guard Dylan Lauer and senior running back Jesse Sherwood earn All-NSIC South honors for the first time in their careers.
 
A 6-foot, 206-pound, native of Plymouth, Minn., Burns led the NSIC in total tackles for the third straight season and was second in tackles per game (9.4). He finished the year with 103 tackles, including 56 solo stops, while adding seven tackles for loss, two sacks and two interceptions. Burns had double-figure tackles in six games in 2022, including a season-high 13 tackles versus Augustana. In the final regular season NCAA statistics, Burns ranks 19^th in total tackles and 37^th in solo tackles.
 
Burns closed his four-year career starting in all 44 games and set the SMSU and NSIC career record for solo tackles with 213. His 365 career tackles rank second in SMSU history and third in NSIC history.

Lauer, a 6-foot-4, 304-pound, native of Cloquet, Minn., started every game for SMSU the past two seasons and this year helped an SMSU rushing attack that finished fourth in the NSIC at 172.8 yards per game. Running back Jesse Sherwood led the conference at 134.8 rushing yards per game, while the Mustang offense finished the season averaging 323.5 yards per game.
 
Sherwood, a 5-foot-10, 205-pound, native of Minneapolis, led the NSIC with 134.8 rushing yards per game and ranked second in rushing yards at 1,213. Sherwood, who missed two games with an injury, closed the season with five 100-yard rushing games, including a career-high 205 yards with three touchdowns on 36 carries in a victory at UMary. Sherwood, who also caught 12 passes for 124 yards and one touchdown was twice named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week this season. In the final regular season NCAA statistics, Sherwood ranks eighth in rushing yards per game, 10^th in rushing yards and 17^th in all-purpose yards (148.5).
 
Sherwood's 1,213 rushing yards and 134.8 yards per game both rank second in SMSU single-season history. He closed his two-year SMSU career ranking first in team history in both yards per rush (5.8) and rushing yards per game (111.1) and eighth all-time with 2,000 rushing yards.

Southwest Minnesota State finished the season 4-7 overall under first-year head coach Scott Underwood.