NFC season ends for Steelers (update)

The Northern Football Conference season has come to an end for the Sault Steelers.

On Saturday afternoon the Steelers dropped a 42-7 decision on the road to the Sarnia Imperials in the first round of the NFC playoffs.

The Steelers lone major came by way of defensive touchdown in the second quarter.

Sarnia opened the scoring in the first quarter thanks to a 29-yard field goal by Kevin Allaer. The Imperials would go up 5-0 after a safety late in the quarter.

The Imperials would increase the lead to 7-0 thanks to another safety at the end of the opening quarter.

Ahead of the Steelers major in the second quarter, Sarnia took a 14-0 lead thanks to a 33-yard touchdown catch by Terry Mauldin.

The Imperials broke the game open with a pair of touchdown catches by Sarnia’s Ryan Lounsbury on passes from quarterback Pat Wright.

Defensively for the Imperials, Floyd Graham recovered a fumble for a touchdown late in the third quarter while Chris VanMeppellen Scheppink capped off the Sarnia scoring by returning another Steelers fumble for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Steelers entered the game off a 13-12 win over the Imperials in Sarnia one week ago in the final game of the regular season for both clubs.

Sarnia was the first team to advance to round two in the NFC.

The Montreal Transit advanced thanks to a 40-19 victory on the road against the Sudbury Spartans. The Ottawa Invaders advanced with a 41-13 victory at home against the Hamilton Steel City Patriots. Also advancing was the G.T.A. All Stars after a 54-6 victory over the Toronto Raiders.

The second round matchups will see G.T.A. host Montreal and Sarnia host Ottawa on Aug. 8 with the winners advancing to the NFC final on Aug. 15.