North Dickinson quarterback Antonio Inglese (23) looks for an open teammate during an 8-man varsity football clash against the visiting Ironwood on Sept. 30. School officials on Monday announced the cancellation of the 2023 varsity football schedule. The Nordics, however, will field a JV team this fall. (Daily News file photo)

FELCH — There will be football at North Dickinson this fall, just not varsity football.

An announcement by North Dickinson County School athletic director Rachel Gustafson was posted on the district’s website, https://www.go-nordics.com/, on Monday stating the Nordics’ 2023 varsity 8-man football season had been canceled.

“It is unfortunate that we will not have enough athletes to safely field a varsity football team at North Dickinson for this upcoming 2023 season,” Gustafson said in the post. “We will have enough underclassmen for a JV team but we don’t feel it is safe to pull them up to the varsity level due to safety concerns.

“We are currently working on a new schedule and will let you all know as soon as possible with the changes.”

Head football coach Mike Christian confirmed the news.

“We will have a JV (team) but I only have four upperclassmen that we’re going to play,” he said.

The Nordics were slated to kick off their varsity campaign this fall Aug. 24 at Norway. That’s following a 2022 season in which North Dickinson finished 1-8 overall and 0-8 in the Great Lakes Eight Conference-West.

But Christian said he believes the lack of players is a temporary situation and expects a varsity team to once again don the Nordics’ maroon and white in fall 2024.

“That’s the plan,” the coach added. “We should be OK next year.”

Practice for North Dickinson’s JV squad is set to begin on Aug. 7 and Gustafson stated more details will be released in the near future.

“We are currently working on a new schedule and will let you all know as soon as possible with the changes,” she posted. “Practice will begin on Aug. 7 with more details to follow.”

Anyone with questions or seeking more information is asked to email Gustafson at rgustafson@go-nordics.com.

— Daily News staff members Dennis Mansfield and Jim Anderson contributed to this report.