Norwalk returns home to face Redmen

NORWALK — Not much has changed. When the Norwalk football team hosts Bellevue on Friday, it knows what it will see in the non-conference matchup at Contractors Stadium. In his second season after taking over for Ed Nasonti, who retired after 34 years following the 2024 season, Alex Shepherd has helped keep Bellevue going strong. The South Central graduate and former St. Paul assistant has guided the Redmen to victory in 10 of his first 15 games. After wins over Clyde and Wauseon, Bellevue (2-1) is coming off a 27-7 loss at Shelby last week. "On offense they present a lot of different looks, and on defense, they just continue to be what they've been for a long time," NHS head coach Keith Mora said of the Redmen. "You can look at Bellevue teams for the last 10 to 15 years, and it all looks similar." The Truckers (0-3) will be tasked with the challenge of slowing down quarterback Ike Brown (6-foot-3, 185 pounds). The four-year player and three-year starter enters Friday 29-of-67 passing for 356 yards and four touchdowns. On the ground, he's totaled 312 yards and 3 TDs on 35 attempts. Behind him, running back Evan Bova has 119 yards and 3 TDs on 25 attempts, while both Landon Sartor (2 TDs) and Thomas Reesman each have 68 yards rushing. Caden Cramer leads Bellevue in receiving with eight catches for 154 yards and a TD. Justin Bucher has six catches for 61 yards and a TD, while Konner Dauch adds four catches for 61 yards and a TD. "When you break them down by formation, they just do a lot of different things pretty well," Mora said of the Redmen. "They can get into the I-formation with three running backs in a double-tight look, but they can jump from that to an empty backfield and be just as effective. "That makes them a very difficult offense to deal with from just a schematic standpoint." Mora noted Brown has plenty of options to use in an offense that is averaging 30.3 points per game. "When you look at their personnel, Brown has been taking snaps there for three years and knows how to run their offense," he said. "The Cramer kid is a really tough tight end who blocks and catches well. "They always have a nice offensive line and move guys around who play strong and physical up front. They bring a lot of different schemes and talented players at you." Bellevue is allowing 16 points per game through the first three weeks. Linebacker Maddex Bailey has 35 tackles with 1.5 sacks, an interception, and a forced fumble. Cramer adds 22 tackles and has forced two fumbles, and Dauch has 19 tackles and an interception. "Their guys have grown up in their system, and they know what they are running in a 4-3 look," Mora said. "They may roll down another linebacker or two with a 4-4 or 6-2 against us, but it's a system their kids know and play well. "Just when you think they know what they will be in, they jump into something else. This is a well-coached team with the typical fundamentally sound players, and that's what we'll be dealing with. They have 11 guys who know how to play the game and know what their job is." Friday's game is the 128th meeting between the Truckers and Redmen. Bellevue leads the series 79-44-4 all-time and is 7-2 against the Truckers since the end of the Northern Ohio League (1944-2016). After nearly 100 years of being league rivals in the Little Big League, the Northern Ohio League, and the Sandusky Bay Conference, the shift in divisions turned the annual game into a non-conference matchup starting in 2023. Norwalk's last win in the series was a 45-21 win at Bellevue in 2019. The Truckers are coming off a 42-7 loss at Mansfield Madison. For the season, Brysen Risner has totaled 227 yards and a TD on 32 attempts. Lyric Shipp adds 190 yards on 42 carries, while Ayden Hudson-Brown has 160 yards and a TD on 26 attempts. Defensively, Hudson-Brown has 13 tackles. Shipp adds 12 tackles with a sack and a fumble recovery, and Cam Evans adds 10 tackles and one sack. "Despite the final score, we cleaned a lot of things up at Madison in all three phases that we struggled with in our first two games," Mora said. "We're stressing to our guys that we don't believe we're a bad team, but we're an inconsistent team at times in all three phases. "We have guys who can play and have the ability to do things, but we have to become more consistent." After hosting Toledo Start in the season opener on Aug. 21, the Truckers are home after road games at Ontario and Madison. Not only will it be against nearby Bellevue, but the game also falls on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and is also mini-cheer and alumni night for the sideline cheer program. "We're looking forward to being home," Mora said. "We are trying to get our first win, which creates a pressure point above anything else, but we'll talk to the guys about what Friday night entails. Most importantly, we want to make sure we're prepared and finding ways to improve every single week. "We will certainly talk to them about the importance of it and the pieces surrounding it with the 9/11 component and to tell them the importance of those things. Obviously none of them were alive when that was going on, but our coaches remember where they were at that time. We'll talk about the importance of why we remember it but also make sure they are prepared against a very good opponent with a big opportunity ahead of us."