The Texas State football Spring Game was played on Saturday. It’d been 146 days since Bobcat Football fans were able to watch the maroon and gold in Bobcat Stadium.
The game’s festivities included a $10 jersey sale prior to the game, Katzegarten entertainment throughout, as well as a brisket lunch for alumni and players to mingle afterward.
The Spring Game itself included two halves. The first half was a 50-play scrimmage of offense versus a defense that included a two-minute drill portion.
During the first half, the defense came out hot and made multiple stops against the first and second-team offensive units. Junior safety Tory Spears came away with the only turnover of the game —an interception on newcomer, transfer junior quarterback from Arkansas State, Layne Hatcher.
At “halftime,” the offensive linemen and defensive linemen attempted to return punts. None of the participants were able to field a punt, but it was great entertainment for the fans and their teammates.
The second half of the Spring Game featured a game Coach Jake Spavital calls “21.” The game is played with a unique scoring system and starts on the 25-yard line. The offense can score points by scoring touchdowns (six points), making extra points (one point) and making field goals (three points). On the other side of the ball, the defense can score points by forcing turnovers (seven points), holding the offense to no score (seven points) and when the offense makes a field goal (four points).
Players love the game – it’s the closest to in-game experience that they get. 
“I love 21,” said junior offensive lineman Kyle Hergel. “What a great drill that is. It’s just so competitive, and it just changes up the monotony of practice … 21 gets the juices going.”
The offense, during “21,” looked completely different than the offense in the first half. 
The defense made the first stop in the game, holding sophomore quarterback Ty Evans and the offense to a field goal. After the first drive, it was 3-4, the defense had the lead.
“When 21 starts, it’s like the fourth quarter started in the real game,” junior outside linebacker Jordan Revels said. “It’s hot, everybody’s on edge, everybody’s really playing like we’re in a game.”
On the first play of the second next drive, Hatcher threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Julian Ortega-Jones for the first touchdown of “21.” The offense took a 10-4 lead after a made extra point. On the next drive, sophomore running back Calvin Hill punched in a touchdown to extend the lead for the offense, 17-4, after a made extra-point.
On the fourth and final drive, Ortega-Jones caught another touchdown pass, this time from Evans, to send the defense packing and win the game of “21,” by a score of 23-4.
Spavital said he is proud of the progress his team has made in the spring and he’s happy that his team came out of the Spring Game healthy, knowing that there’s a lot more work to do before his team faces the Nevada Wolf Pack to kick off the 2022 football season on Sept. 3 in Reno.
“We’ve got 150 days until we play Nevada,” Spavital said. “We’ve still got a lot of time … they’ve made a lot of strides through spring, and we’ve got to transition into the offseason and summer. We’ve got to wrap up finals … we’ve gotta have a great summer and then we’ve got to have a good fall camp.”