Singer, Rospert ready to lead city teams

NORWALK — This was never the plan. Growing up in Norwalk, senior Brady Singer never had any dreams of throwing game-winning touchdowns or leading the Truckers to a dramatic victory as the quarterback. In fact, Singer has been pulled in many different directions in his years playing football for Norwalk. But on Friday, he will lead the Truckers for a 13th consecutive time over three seasons as the team's starting quarterback and unquestioned leader. Norwalk entertains Toledo Start in the season opener at Contractors Stadium. "Well, freshman year I came in as a receiver and figured I'd be catching passes for four years," Singer said. "Then I transitioned to quarterback and stayed there as a sophomore." But the transition continued from there. After completing 14 of 38 pass attempts for 197 yards and a pair of touchdowns over the final four weeks of the 2024 season as a sophomore, Singer was tasked with leading a completely new offense in 2025. With Norwalk relying heavily on the run game in the Wing-T offense, Singer was under center and threw just 80 times in 10 games last season. As a junior, he completed 33 passes and threw a pair of TDs. Singer said he hasn't minded being pulled in different directions. "It's honestly whatever," he said. "This is our offense, and we got who we have and try to do our best with it. I've just been going along with it. But it's different from what I thought the experience of high school football would be." Singer was asked about his biggest responsibility for the upcoming season. "You have to know what you are doing and keep everyone up and on the same page," he said. "You have to do everything right at all times for not just yourself, but the whole team. "From there, it's up to us to try and do everything right as best we can, and of course give the best effort we can." Fourth-year Norwalk coach Keith Mora described Singer as a steady presence for the offense. "He's continued to grow, and his confidence is there," Mora said. "It's nice going into a game knowing Brady is not going to have those butterflies with varsity experience. "We all have those on game day, but he has that level of confidence and not only has a calm about him, but he knows our offense inside and out. He's been so invested and bought into what we are doing." Mora said Singer is a prototypical Wing-T quarterback on a number of levels. "Brady can manage the game and put the ball where it needs to be," he said. "He manages everything at the line of scrimmage and is capable of making checks at the line. He's someone who we feel strongly about. "And despite his size, another key piece is he's a very tough kid. I don't know if he missed a single down on offense last year, so he's also very reliable." All-Ohioan Rospert leads St. Paul With a last name steeped in St. Paul tradition, Levi Rospert left his mark on that legacy long ago. Now, Rospert is a returning All-Ohioan and a senior captain at receiver and defensive back who is looking to lead a Flyers team with a collective chip on their shoulders. After averaging nine wins for more than 30 years, the Flyers are 11-11 over the past two seasons. That included a 5-6 mark in 2025, the first losing season for the program since 1991. "We have a lot of motivation, because obviously the past two years didn't fully go the way we wanted to go, but especially last year," Rospert said. "The energy we have going into this season from January until now, keeping the tempo how we have it, that is something we have to keep going strong with all season." As a key two-way starter, Rospert said he learned a lot from last season's up-and-down experiences that saw the Flyers on the wrong side of three close games decided in the final minute. "I would say work ethic in general is key," he said. "Determination can take you further than you think. That's what we need this year. And we have a lot of reasons to play and compete at a high level." As a sophomore in 2024, Rospert caught 13 passes for 205 yards. But one of those was a 26-yard catch falling backwards near midfield in front of the Monroeville sidelines as the Flyers drove 92 yards to stun the 9-0 Eagles with no time on the clock to force a Firelands Conference co-title in the regular season finale at Marsh Field. Last season, Rospert broke out. He caught 37 passes for 544 yards (14.7-yard average) and 4 TDs on offense. On defense, Rospert had 54 tackles with four interceptions and two fumble recoveries. He also broke up nine passes en route to All-Ohio third team honors in Division VII. Four years ago, older brother Chase (2023 graduate) was also an All-Ohioan along the offensive line. "I was a little surprised by it, but at the same time I feel like I had the right mindset," Rospert said of becoming an all-state player. "The coaches put me in the right spot for everything. Coach (Darren) Hainline and Coach (Tom) Baker put me in the right spots." As far as being a senior captain, Rospert said it will feel good initially as the Flyers take the field Friday at Port Clinton in the season opener. "But you have to stay humble and determined," he said. "We have to put our head down and work towards a conference title and whatever our goals may be. The grit and leadership have to be there. "Our mindset from January until now has been about putting our heads down and working every day at practice." Third-year head coach Chris Doughty said Rospert has been a "fantastic" leader in all his years as a varsity player for the Flyers. "He is a kid who strives to be exactly what he is," Doughty said. "Levi is able to take advantage of his natural athletic ability that he combines with his work ethic in the game of football."