Norwalk, St. Paul wind down preseason

NORWALK — Everything felt much better. The Norwalk football team hosted Willard, Elyria Catholic, and Cloverleaf in a 7-on-7 passing scrimmage July 15 in 98-degree temperatures. But Wednesday, the Truckers, along with crosstown St. Paul, entertained Margaretta and Seneca East in another set of passing scrimmages at Contractors Stadium. Seven days later, the temperatures were cooler by nearly 25 degrees, as the cooler weather also offered a Friday night autumn setting. "What a difference a week made," Norwalk coach Keith Mora said. "It was a beautiful night to be out here, and it's good to be done with these, too." The Truckers participated in four passing scrimmages over four straight Wednesdays, including two in Elyria along with the two at home. For a team that deploys the run-based Wing-T, it was a little more than they probably needed to do. "But it's good to give us some things to look at and make some adjustments that we can see on film and some blind spots to get ironed out," Mora said. "I told the guys that it's never about winning any type of scrimmage, but about building blocks all the way till the first week of the season." To that end, Mora just wanted his players to walk away from a passing scrimmage and say they found something that was an improvement. "If we can do that, then that's the win for the day," he said. "It wasn't about anything else with our passing scrimmages… just about if we got better day by day." Wednesday's format saw each team start at the opponent's 40-yard line with four plays to earn a first down at the 20-yard line and an additional four plays to try and score. Quarterbacks had four seconds to throw the football, and an interception or turnover on downs resulted in a change of possession. Norwalk opened with Margaretta before facing Seneca East and St. Paul. Up next for the Truckers are six camp days, one Friday and five days next week, before the first official practice of the fall. The first possible date is Aug. 1, a Saturday, but Mora and the Truckers will instead hit the ground running Aug. 3. "Now we get to play real football, or worry about the run fit and defensive pressure and blitzing, and just the line game in general," Mora said. "That's something we don't get for four Wednesdays of passing camp. "We're on the doorstep of that fun part of the summer going into August." That will include a groundbreaking ceremony at 6 p.m. July 29 on the Reagan Fieldhouse, which is an expansion of the current Reagan All Sports Complex. It will be a new turf fieldhouse. "We have a lot to get excited about, and the cool thing is the guys will get to see a fieldhouse being built while we're practicing," Mora said. "We're worrying about our future day by day while also seeing our future being built as well." Norwalk will host Lorain, the ninth-largest school in the state in terms of boys enrollment, in a practice scrimmage at 10 a.m. Aug. 8. The Truckers visit Shelby in a one-half scrimmage Aug. 14 before hosting Toledo Start in the season opener Aug. 21. "Health was a big thing for us this summer, and everyone came out good, and we're ready to get going," Mora said. Flyers "anxious" to start After coming off the first losing mark since 1991, the Flyers are looking to make the 5-6 record from 2025 a small blip in their storied history. Wednesday's passing scrimmage came less than 24 hours after the Flyers competed in one at Mohawk on Tuesday. St. Paul also had a 7-on-7 with Seneca East at Bellevue on July 14. "Overall, I've been really happy with the kids' ability to listen to coaching and make minor adjustments and improvements to things, even without really having any practice or camp days between," third-year St. Paul coach Chris Doughty said. "We've pretty much just gone from one 7-on-7 to another, so a lot of the coaching was done over a whiteboard. "To see the kids actually apply those things and make improvements has been promising to see," he added. "They have been incredibly coachable over the summer, and we're just really happy with their mindset and willingness to learn and understand football better." Wednesday's action against Seneca East, followed by Margaretta and Norwalk, was essentially the end of the preseason for the Flyers. The players and coaches are off Thursday and Friday before the weekend. Next week, the Flyers have four days of conditioning bright and early (7 to 9 a.m.) Monday through Thursday. The first two days will be in helmets, followed by shoulder pats on the second two days. "Then Friday is our final camp day, which will just be used to install our special teams for both varsity and JV," Doughty said. "That way we're ready to roll the next day for the first practice, which is full pads and contact one week before our first scrimmage." St. Paul visits Keystone at 10 a.m. Aug. 8 in its practice scrimmage. The Flyers host Mohawk at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at Contractors Stadium for a one-half scrimmage preview. St. Paul opens the regular season a Div. V Port Clinton on Aug. 21. "I think the kids are getting anxious to get into the contact side of things," Doughty said. "These (passing scrimmages) are nice to get a chance to work on your pass offense and defense, but there is no contact, and we have a lot of kids who like to be physical. "Once we put the pads on is when it's their time to really shine and show their abilities. We have a lot of kids who are anxious to show what they can do." Week 1 FridayAmherst Steele at SanduskyCleveland VASJ at PerkinsClyde at BellevueEdison at Patrick HenryHuron at Oak HarborMohawk at MargarettaMonroeville at McCombSt. Paul at Port ClintonToledo Start at NorwalkVermilion at Johnstown-Monroe SaturdayDanbury at SMCC (8-man)