Steelers continue preparations for 2021 football season

Despite the 2020 Northern Football Conference season being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sault Steelers have made sure the team will be ready when the 2021 season opens next summer.

On the recruiting trail locally, the team has announced a number of verbal commitments throughout the course of the summer months.

Since the middle of July, the team has received commitments from 11 players for next season, which includes players from both sides of the International Bridge.

The group includes a number of players who spent time in both the local high school loop as well as with the Ontario Football Conference’s Sault Sabercats program.

In recent weeks, the Steelers received commitments from the likes of:

• Carter Harrison, who played high school football at St. Mary’s in addition to time with the Sabercats;
• Noah Tarnai, who played high school locally with White Pines while also playing high school football with Mayfield Secondary School in Caledon, Ont.,
• Chuck Webb, who was a multi-sport athlete at St. Mary’s, including time as a key member of the Knights football team,
• Carter Bonin, member of both the Sabercats and St. Mary’s football programs,
• Evan Sicoli, who also spent time with the Knights and the Sabercats,
• Will Basawa, who most recently spent time as a coach at Korah and defensive coordinator with the Sabercats junior varsity team. Basawa is a former member of the Korah football team as well,
• Darian Belkosky, who played at Korah as well as with the Sabercats program,
• Bowen Oliver, a former rookie of the year in junior and senior football at Korah,
• Brandon Southwind, another member of the Colts, who was a member of Korah’s 2019 OFSAA championship team.

Among the players who have made verbal commitments to join the team next season are a pair of players from the Michigan side of the border.

The duo includes John Tharp, who was a defensive player of the year with Brimley High School in 2019.

The team has also received a commitment from another member of the Brimley squad in Austin Kronemeyer.

In a social media post announcing the signing, the Steelers say Kronemeyer plans to join the team for the 2022 season after spending a year with the National Guard Reserves.