Steelers lose a heartbreaker

The Sault Steelers saw a home opening victory slip away in heartbreaking fashion as the Oshawa Hawkeyes rallied for a 29-28 win on Saturday night at Rocky DiPietro Field.

Holding a 28-14 lead late in the fourth quarter, the Steelers saw the Hawkeyes claw back after giving up a safety and two touchdowns in the final 3:13 of the game.

The winning touchdown came on the game's final play as Oshawa quarterback Chris Foster hit receiver Dave Beaulieu with an 18 yard pass as time expired to give the Hawkeyes the one point victory.

The Steelers' first loss of the season drops them to 2-1 in the Northern Football Conference.

The locals are back in action with another tough game against Milton on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rocky DiPietro Field.

After Rob Southwind recovered a fumble for the Steelers near their own goal line, the Hawkeyes recorded a safety to close the score to 28-16 with 3:13 remaining. On their next offensive drive, Beaulieu caught an 11 yard pass to set up Foster's one yard touchdown run with 1:14 remaining and cut the lead to 28-23.

After recovering the onside kick, the Hawkeyes were down to their final play on 4th and 11 with 40 seconds remaining. But Oshawa picked up 25 yards on the play and gained another first down before completing the comeback win on the final snap.

Josh Gauthier scored three touchdowns for the Steelers on a one yard run, a two yard scamper and a 95 yard kick off return. Noah Rushon caught an eight yard major while Kyle Gauthier booted three converts and Nick Pedersen added a 45 yard punt single.

Former CFLer Dave Dinnall rushed for 154 yards on 17 carries for the Hawkeyes while Josh Gauthier led the Steelers rushing attack with 84 yards on 15 carries.

Steelers quarterback Travis McLean completed 13 of 23 passes for 117 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Rushon caught four passes for 33 yards and Tony Boniferro made three receptions for 16 yards.

Defensively, Matt Gauthier made 6.5 tackles and recovered a fumble. Tysen Vanderloo and Joe Oldham recorded two sacks each and Mark Porco added another sack while interceptions were made by Kyle Gauthier and Wade Kraft.