We Are The Northmen

Before they were the Northmen, they were boys in plain blue jerseys building a field-and a legacy-one stone at a time.

Petoskey, Michigan, 1925. Fifteen-year-old Richard Rigg wants more than anything to earn a place on the high school football team. He is undersized, inexperienced, and almost invisible beside the older, stronger boys whose names appear in the newspaper. When Coach John Hess finally allows him inside the fence, Richard does not receive a starting position. He receives a water bucket, a worn pair of football shoes, and the chance to prove that he will keep returning after he is knocked down.

At the same time, the people of Petoskey are transforming a rough, stone-filled stretch of ground south of Bear River into Curtis Field. Shopkeepers, factory workers, teachers, fathers, and students all contribute their labor. As the field slowly takes shape, so does Richard. He learns that a football team is built much like a community: through difficult work, shared sacrifice, and people willing to do important jobs that no crowd will ever notice.

Guided by demanding coaches, loyal teammates, and a father who asks only, "Did you help?" Richard spends three seasons fighting for his place. He carries water, runs with the reserves, studies opposing players, and learns to protect the narrow strip of ground entrusted to him. Along the way, he discovers that belonging is not measured by how often a player carries the ball or whether his name appears in Monday's newspaper.

By 1927, Petoskey has a new field, a new coach, and a team on the edge of history. The Blue and White win eight consecutive games, score 300 points, and complete the regular season without allowing a single opponent to cross their goal line. The town begins to believe its boys cannot be beaten.

Then an undefeated powerhouse from Alma proposes one final game on Thanksgiving Day.

Accepting the challenge means risking Petoskey's perfect season, its unscored-upon record, and everything the team has earned. Refusing means living with the question of what might have happened. With Northern Michigan watching, Richard and his teammates must decide whether a perfect record is something to protect-or something worth putting on the line.

What follows will give Petoskey something even more enduring than a championship: a name.

Inspired by the remarkable true story behind Petoskey High School's Northmen tradition, We Are the Northmen is a moving historical novel about fathers and sons, grief and perseverance, loyalty, sportsmanship, and small-town pride. It is a story for anyone who has ever stood outside the fence hoping for a chance, contributed without receiving recognition, or discovered that the most important victories cannot be measured on a scoreboard.

Some teams win championships. One team gave Petoskey an identity it would carry for generations.