Suttons Bay football storms into the 2026 season having to conquer the road.
Suttons Bay's football field is being rebuilt with new concessions and a brand-new surface.
As a result, the team may play most or all of its 2026 games away from home, pending word on whether the field will be ready by season's end.
Suttons Bay coach Tony West is working with the athletic director and school on logistics but is embracing the challenge — even joking about making "Traveling Norsemen" or "Road Warriors" T-shirts for the team.
"Even though we might not have a normal quote-unquote schedule, the seniors will get to tell the story for a number of years that they were the Traveling Norsemen this season," West said.
But there does remain a home slot in October for a Homecoming of sorts. Suttons Bay could battle Bear Lake and St. Joseph Our Lady of the Lake Catholic, in mid-October games.
Suttons Bay looks to bounce back after a 2-6 season marked with wins over Baldwin (36-34) and Pellston (35-0) to end the campaign.
Suttons Bay graduated a senior class that had been central to the program for years. It’ll be looking to reload for the 2026 season.
“Our senior class stepped up this year, and we have some good leadership — I'm encouraged by that,” West said. "We are led by a lot of underclassmen; next guy up mentality."
West is in his second year at the helm.
"What excites me is just getting back on the field and encouraging these student athletes to keep on working to be better — better humans, students, and then athletes to follow,” West said.
The message this year is unity.
"We are one unit,” West said. “We support each other, and we every day show up and try to make our teammates and everyone around us stronger.”
The Suttons Bay cooperative team is made up of students including Suttons Bay, Northport and Lake Leelanau St. Mary.
"We have a pretty good split across the board,” West said. “We're bringing a couple kids from Northport that are excited to play. We have some size this year. Our offensive and defensive line are going to be some healthy big boys, which is good. I have to keep them fed … I'm excited that we have the opportunity again to bring all these communities together under the Suttons Bay Norsemen helmet, and again, just be together as a team."
The Norsemen played in the eight-player state finals three consecutive years from 2019-21.
