Steelers bounced from playoffs by Outlaws

The Sault Steelers saw their Northern Football Conference title hopes fade away on Saturday night as they dropped a 14-0 decision to the Tri-City Outlaws at Rocky DiPietro field.

The Steelers found themselves in a position to host the semi-final playoff game after defeating the North Bay Bulldogs the previous weekend and had some help by way of a pair of upsets. Tri-City knocked off Oakville while Toronto defeated Ottawa.

Despite home-field advantage and a solid effort defensively, the Steelers could not find a rhythm offensively and it cost them dearly as a pair of miss-cues led to both Outlaws touchdowns.

The Steelers offense never had an opportunity to get in sync and found themselves in tough against a solid Outlaws defense.

Steelers quarterback Travis McLean had a tough night offensively finishing the game having completed 11 of 26 passes and threw four interceptions. McLean nearly had five interceptions but an Alistar Bailey interception, which was ran back for a 110-yeard touchdown return was called back on an Outlaws penalty.

The Outlaws took a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter when Billy Joe Thompson scampered into the Steelers endzone from 7 yards out. Jason Thomson sealed the Steelers playoff fate late in the fourth quarter when he jumped on a loose ball in the Steelers endzone to make the score 14-0.

The score came while the Steelers were in the process of a punt, the snap carried over the head of kicker Scott May and Thomson was able to pounce on the loose ball.

The Steelers' achilles heel on this night was their offensive production which produced 137 total yards. The offense did have their chances after Tri-City chalked up 145 yards in penalties on the night.

"We certainly had an opportunity to win tonight," said Steelers coach Barry Rushon. "We just couldn't get things going on offense. Some plays it looked like we misfired. When things weren't working well, they just didn't."

Rushon added that he was pleased with the defensive side of the ball. Seth Robinson, Jason Giosa and Kurtis Morrison all had big days defensivly. Gord Campbell, Matti Tucker and Brandon Lewis were all so solid all night.

Offensively, Tim Higgins led the way with 44 yards receiving while Mark Prentice had 37 yards and Tony Boniferro picked up 34 yards. James Albidone led the Steelers with just 10 yards rushing.

The victory gives the Outlaws a berth in the Northern Football Conference championship game set for next Saturday in Milton as the Marauders defeated the Toronto MadDogs 50-0 in the NFC's other semifinal. Game time for the championship is set for 4 p.m. in Milton.