Steelers win regular season finale
Sunday, July 29, 2012 by: Brad Coccimiglio
SUDBURY, ONT. – The Sault Steelers wrapped up the Northern Football Conference regular season on Saturday night with a narrow 14-12 win over the Sudbury Spartans.
The win put the Steelers in a three-way tie for fifth in the NFC with the Oakville Longhorns and Toronto Raiders. The Steelers placed fifth thanks to giving up the least points among the three teams and set up a playoff date with the Sarnia Imperials in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Steelers beat Sarnia in the only regular season meeting between the two clubs, a 20-7 victory at Rocky DiPietro Field on June 23rd.
Aaron Bertolo had both touchdowns for the Steelers against Sudbury, the first coming in the final minute of the opening quarter on a 12-yard pass from Robbie Green. Bertolo caught another touchdown pass from Green, this one coming in the second quarter on a nine-yard pass.
Both of Sudbury’s scoring came on touchdowns with missed converts. Ryan Stanford ran the ball in from five yards out early in the opening quarter while Josh Cuomo ran the ball in from four yards out with 10 seconds remaining in the first half.
With the loss, Sudbury finished the season 0-8 and will face the Toronto Titans in the opening round of the playoffs.
Bryan Babic finished the day with 105 yards rushing on 19 carries while Green, who also kicked both converts for the Steelers had 69 yards rushing on four carries.
Bertolo finished the day with 31 yards on three catches with two touchdowns. Todd Hicks caught a pair of passes for 47 yards.
Cuomo led the Spartans with 126 yards rushing on 30 carries while Stanford had 119 yards rushing on 19 carries.
The other two NFC playoff matchups will see Ottawa face the Toronto Raiders and Oakville face Tri-City.
