Norwalk gets first test against Clear Fork

NORWALK — The challenges were obvious. Not only did the Norwalk football team take on a perennial playoff opponent, Clear Fork, in a practice scrimmage on Aug. 9. But the Truckers were also battling low numbers, with some injuries and kids being shuffled into different roles. Also while learning a new offense in extreme heat on the Contractors Stadium turf, third-year head coach Keith Mora was pleased with his team's intensity level, notably on the offensive side of the ball. "What Clear Fork did on defense presented a really tough front," Mora said. "They stunted and moved around a lot, and that's tough to deal with in an opening scrimmage. "Ultimately, we wanted to come out with good intensity, and I liked what our guys did coming off the ball with that." The Colts were also the first time the Truckers have been able to get a full varsity look since camp started on Aug. 1. "Our numbers are low right now, so we don't always get a true varsity-on-varsity look when it comes to our practices," Mora said. "So figuring out how our kids can turn on the switch and play at a high varsity intensity level right off the bat was important, and we thought they did a nice job with that." Norwalk switched its approach and is running the run-based Wing-T offense this season. "We didn't move the ball the way we wanted, but again, we got a lot of young kids who are still learning and trying to get better," Mora said. "That's our goal. We want to find ways to get better each day, and I thought we took a nice step toward that today." Defensively, Mora thought his kids were wearing down a bit from going both ways in the heat. "It's noon on the hot turf, which is always a challenge as well," he said. "But they did a nice job. An important thing was tackling at the point of attack and being in the right places with our alignment against their different formations." With no film to prep in a scrimmage, Mora said it was about seeing if Norwalk's base defense could line up correctly against the Colts. "I thought for the most part we did do a good job with it," he said. "They moved the ball a bit too much, but overall, our tackling was good, and our strong point today was our line coming off the ball on defense. "They were ready to shed blocks and create some movement in the backfield." Things will get no easier for the Truckers in their final scrimmage. They host a Shelby team this coming Friday that will be preseason top 10 in various state rankings. The Whippets are led by Air Force commit Brayden DeVito at quarterback. The varsity portion of the scrimmage should start around 6 p.m. at Contractors Stadium. After that, Norwalk shifts its focus to the regular season opener on Aug. 22 at Toledo Start. Mora hopes for more improvement next week. "It's a live half of high-level varsity for our younger guys, a lot of whom were JV players last year," he said. "Can we match the intensity of a Shelby team that has a lot back and should be a very strong playoff team? They are a team that is big and strong up front and traditionally very strong across the board. "Can we match that intensity and show that we got one week better and show we are ready for Week 1? Because that's what this is about. We have to be making the daily steps to improve for the regular season. I thought this past week was one of our stronger weeks, so I want to see if we can take another step forward against a very good team."