WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Midwestern State senior offensive guard Ken Van Heule became just the eighth player in program history to earn Associated Press Little All-America honors as released Friday afternoon.
 
The 6-4, 315-pounder from Hurst, Texas is one of the most decorated offensive linemen in school history. He earned Daktronics second-team All-America honors earlier this month and is a two-time Daktronics All-South Central Region performer.
 
Van Heule garnered Lone Star Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year accolades this season after earning All-America mention from Don Hansen's Football Gazette (second team), Beyond Sports Network (third team) and D2Football.com (honorable mention) in 2011.
 
Van Heule spearheaded an offensive line unit that led the nation allowing just four sacks in 11 games this season. The unit paved the way for an offense that averaged 323.9 rushing yards while scoring 38.6 points per game.
 
The Midwestern State offense produced seven 300-yard rushing games as a team and 15 100-yard individual performances from five different backs this season as junior Keidrick Jackson eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive season finishing with 1,354 yards.
 
Former MSU great Amini Silatolu earned first-team mention in 2011 after gaining second-team honors from the Associated Press in 2010. Silatolu has started each game this season as a rookie second-round draft pick for the Carolina Panthers.
 
Tony Burson was a third-team AP Little All-America selection in 2006 and followed up as a second-team pick in 2007 at center.
 
Midwestern boasted five AP Little All-Americans in its earlier football era including offensive tackle Willie Bigham (2nd, 1949), linebacker Jess Stiles (HM, 1951), defensive tackle Lavern Robbins (2nd, 1952), Gene Aldridge (HM, 1956) and quarterback Jackie Weldon (HM, 1956).