The boys of fall made their final appearance of the spring on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Brown Field as the Valparaiso University football team held its annual Spring Game, winding down the 2024 spring practice slate in front of a nice crowd featuring signed incoming freshmen, prospective student-athletes, alumni and fans.

How It Happened

• The game used a modified scoring system that pitted the offense against the defense and gave the defense a 21-0 lead to start the contest.
• The defense forced a three-and-out on the first possession. A 13-yard catch from Rowan Keefe to Devin Yeats moved the chains on the second possession, but the defense induced another punt.

• The biggest play of Drive 3 was a 15-yard reception by Brandon Jimenez on a pass from Caron Tyler. The defense did force another punt.
• Late in the first quarter, Aaron Larkins Jr. broke off Valpo’s biggest rushing play of the first stanza with a 14-yard gain.
• In the second quarter, Michael Appel Jr. delivered a 27-yard pass to Chris Gundy to help set up a 47-yard field-goal try, which was converted by Ryan Hawk to cut the defense’s lead to 21-3.
• Keefe had a pair of big passes on the next drive, finding Jeffery Vercher for 31 yards and Silas Mathis for 21. That helped set up a 2-yard TD pass to Micah Mackay to cut the defense’s lead to 11 at 21-10.
• A sack by Austin Chilton helped the defense get a stop at the end of the first half.
• The defense added to the lead early in the third quarter as Frank Bartell made an interception, earning the defense three points in the modified scoring system to make it 24-10.
• Appel connected with Mathis for a 45-yard gain, then Larkins ran for 22 yards on that same drive. However, a promising drive was snuffed out by the defense as Nic Lendino made an interception to make it 27-10 defense.
• The defense forced another turnover when Alex Goworowski came up with a fumble recovery to extend the lead to 30-10.
• Early in the fourth quarter, the defense continued to make plays as Gabriel Batres came up with a sack and Jolil Walker made an interception to pad the advantage to 23 at 33-10.
• Appel had a trio of big completions on the next drive, finding Brian Thomas, Yeats and Mackay for gains of 19, 22 and 21.
• A late sack by Connor Cervantes helped the defense wrap up the 33-10 victory.
• Mathis had three catches for 79 yards, while Larkins ran for 43 yards to lead the offense. Appel had 10 completions for 155 yards and Keefe completed eight passes for 114 yards and a touchdown. Frank Bartell was credited with a team-high 4.5 tackles including a tackle for loss and had an interception. Jake Kim recorded four stops. Note: Stats are unofficial and were compiled by standout Valpo Athletics student workers Emily Eisha and Ethan Duff.
• The Beacons will kick off the season on Aug. 31 at UNI. The home opener will be Sept. 14 vs. Indiana Wesleyan.