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Steelers rebound for victory

The Sault Steelers wrapped up the home portion of their Northern Football Conference schedule on Saturday night, one week after their first loss of the season, also on home field, against the G.T.A. All-Stars.

The Sault Steelers wrapped up the home portion of their Northern Football Conference schedule on Saturday night, one week after their first loss of the season, also on home field, against the G.T.A. All-Stars.

Saturday night, the Steelers beat the Ottawa Invaders 39-1 to improve to 6-1 on the NFC season.

“This was a character game for us,” said Steelers co-coach Paul Caldbick. “After the game we had last week, we looked at film and saw the little missed assignments that led to the outcome, they needed to respond with a character effort and come back and focus on playing better football. It spoke a lot to out character to respond the way that we did.”

The Steelers fell behind 1-0 after the game’s opening kickoff by the Invaders got into the endzone and the Steelers were unable to bring the ball out.

The score remained that way until Josh Gauthier ran the ball in from 12 yards out at the end of the opening quarter. Gauthier ran the ball in three more times in the game. The veteran back had touchdown runs of 85 yards in the second quarter and runs of 35 yards and five yards in the fourth quarter in the win. Gauthier finished the day with 20 carries and 276 yards in the game.

Matt Buchan added 59 yards rushing, including a 34-yard touchdown run late, on 10 carries for the Steelers.

Brent Seaton capped off the Steelers scoring with a 36-yard field goal and a punt through the Ottawa endzone for a single point.

Kyle Gauthier led the Steelers receiving corps with four catches for 70 yards in the win. Quarterback Frank Weise completed eight of 17 passes for 106 yards in the game.

“Our offence was improved (over last week). We talked about being quicker off the ball on the offensive line and our backs, both Josh and Matty Buchan, getting to the hole as it opens as opposed to as it’s closing. We did a better job, during the course of the game making adjustments in terms of our blocking schemes,” Caldbick said of the Steelers offensive adjustments in the win. “Those two components helped to contribute to a better offensive effort.”

Adam Gourgon had 122 yards on 20 carries for the Invaders offensively.

Defensively for the Steelers, Pat Murray had a pair of interceptions and a fumble recovery along with three tackles. Matt Gauthier led the way with nine tackles for the Steelers.

“We had an opportunity to work on a few things over the course of the week leading into this week’s game,” said Caldbick. “In terms of assignments we were much better and more disciplined. We stayed in our lanes and executed our assignments. Overall, our tackling was a little better as well. It was a significant improvement over last week.”

The Steelers wrap up their regular season schedule on July 26 when they travel to Toronto to take on the Raiders.

The Sault Sabercats were also in action on Saturday,. For a full recap, click here


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Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
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