APSU Govs Football’s Red-White Game to culminate Will Healy’s first spring; Stadium renaming ceremony follows

APSU Sports Information

Clarksville, TN – The first spring of the Will Healy Era will culminate, 4:00pm, Saturday, with the annual Red-White Spring Game in what afterwards officially becomes Fortera Stadium.

This is the third and final Governors scrimmage—the first in two weeks—and it will conclude a spring of change that started when Healy was named head football coach—the second youngest at the FBS/FCS level back in mid-December.

“I am as excited about meeting some new fans as I am getting a chance to play the game,” said Healy, the former Chattanooga assistant who almost completely revamped the Govs coaching staff. “These guys deserve a good crowd for the work they put in since we got here in December. I believe we have gotten better from Practice 1 to Practice 14, hopefully, Saturday that will show.”

The game will be comprised much like a normal game, with four 15-minute quarters and normal scoring, as opposed to a tricky scoring system. Action will be live other than special teams. Quick whistles will be used to protect all players when necessary, in particular the quarterbacks.

However, for the most part all spring the Governors gained a lot more aggression on both sides of the football with significant amounts of live contact.

“We are going to put them into more game-like situation and we are anxious to see how they respond,” Healy said. “We are going to be able to learn more as coaches also…about each other, call plays—it is going to be a good situation for players and coaches.”

In the first scrimmage, rising redshirt sophomore Mickey Macious was the most effective quarterback. However, in the second scrimmage it was senior Timarious Mitchell, who completed 9-of-11 passes for 76 yards on a chilly night.

The Governors quarterbacks’ favorite target that night was senior receiver Rashaan Coleman, who caught seven passes.

Defensively, the Governors were unable to force any turnovers in the second scrimmage but held the offense to more than a 100 fewer yards than the first scrimmage, despite running close to 100 plays.

“The scrimmage situations have been big for us as an entire organization. I don’t expect Saturday to be any different, other than a little more pressure has been building up,” Healy said. “We are going to make it as much like Game 1 as humanly possible. We will see how these guys perform.”

Following the game at 5:45pm, the official renaming of Governors Stadium to Fortera Stadium will occur. A concert, starring rising country star Maggie Rose, will begin at 6:15pm and will conclude the day’s activities.