Steelers blanked at home

Facing a solid defence didn’t make life any easier for the Sault Steelers Saturday.

The Steelers struggled offensively as they dropped a 34-0 decision to the Ottawa Invaders at Rocky DiPietro Field on Saturday night.

“We felt the success of the game and our ability to compete was going to rest with our ability to move the ball offensively,” said Steelers Coach Paul Caldbick, “We just weren’t able to do that tonight. (Ottawa’s) defence was good. We just haven’t had the reps we’ve needed in order to get to where we need to be.”

Steelers quarterback Frank Weise had a tough day, completing three of 11 passes for just a single yard.

Matt Buchan ran for 27 yards on nine rushes.

“The reality is, we haven’t had the reps we’ve needed to be sharp and crisp in this league,” Caldbick said. “Trying to show up on game day and throw something together just doesn’t do it.”

Defensively, Pat Murray had eight tackles and returned an interception 35 yards. Joe Oldham and Dan Bartley also had interceptions while Theo Alpha had a fumble recovery.

T.J. Williams had a big day with 221 rushing yards on 21 carries, which also included a one-yard touchdown run and caught an 11-yard pass for a touchdown as well for Ottawa.

Andrew Foss caught three passes for 57 yards while Eric Renaud caught a pair of passes for 50 yards.

Ottawa quarterback John Williams completed 10 of 23 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown and three interceptions

Defensively, Michael Lafond and Ali El-Zammar had five tackles each for Ottawa while Jeff Coldwell returned a fumble 26 yards for a touchdown.

The Steelers drop to 1-4 and remain in fourth in the NFC’s West Division while Ottawa improves to 4-1 as they continue to battle the Montreal Transit for second in the East Division. Montreal picked up a 60-20 win against the Oakville Longhorns in Oakville on Saturday to keep pace with Ottawa and run their record to 4-1 as well.

In other NFC action on Saturday, the Sudbury Spartans beat the Hamilton Steel City Patriots 41-21 in Hamilton; the Sarnia Imperials needed overtime to beat the Toronto Raiders 37-31 anf the G.T.A. All-Stars beat the Tri-City Outlaws 70-14.