Hilliard shares MIAC weekly football honor

October 15, 2001
St. Thomas wide receiver Andrew Hilliard (JR-Woodbury) was named Co-Offensive Player of the Week for MIAC football today. Hilliard shared the award with St. John's junior QB Ryan Keating.

For the second week in a row, Hilliard broke open a close game with three touchdown catches.He finished with a career-high 194 receiving yards on 10 catches in the Tommies' 28-16 win over St. Olaf. The Oles had pulled within 21-16 with 7:00 remaining when Hilliard made a fingertip catch on a post pattern on a 3rd-and-5 play and finished off a 64-yard TD reception. Hilliard, an Academic All-America candidate with a 3.978 gpa, has missed one game with an injury but in five games has nine TD catches among his 40 receptions for 672 yards. He has 86 catches for 1,503 yards on his career. The
Tommies are 4-2 overall and 4-1 in the MIAC in a second-place tie with St. John's behind 5-0 Bethel.

Keating threw for 399 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-20 win over Gustavus Adolphus on Oct. 13, in Collegeville. Keating completed 31-of-45 passes, had one interception and rushed for 16 yards on eight carries. Keating connected with three different receivers on touchdown passes of 15, 15 and 21 yards as SJU built a 28-0 halftime lead. On the season, Keating has thrown for 912 yards, 15 touchdowns, five
interceptions with a 57-percent completion percentage.
SJU has won four straight and is 4-2 overall, 4-1 in the MIAC.

The MIAC Defensive Player of the Week was Hamline senior safety Justin Werner, who was credited with five solo tackles, two interceptions, one fumble recovery and another forced fumble to lead the Pipers to a 47-21 victory over
Carleton. He forced a fumble and recovered it early in the first quarter, helping Hamline to a 40-0 halftime lead. The win was the first of the season for Hamline.

The MIAC Special Teams Player of the Week is SJU junior wide receiver Blake Elliott, who had a school-record 167
punt return yards, including two returned for touchdowns
in a 35-20 win over Gustavus. Elliott returned a punt 66-yards for a touchdown late in the first half to give SJU a 28-0 lead at intermission. In the third quarter, Elliott scored on a 46-yard punt return to give the Johnnies a 35-7 lead. Elliott also had a 41-yard punt return in the first
quarter that set up a SJU touchdown. Elliott had 340 all-purpose yards in the game (167 yards on punt returns, 11 yards on kickoff returns, 162 yards receiving) and three touchdowns. On the season, Elliott is averaging 17.2 yards per punt return and 78.2 yards receiving per game. SJU has won four straight and is 4-2 overall, 4-1 in the MIAC.