Steelers smack Bulldogs to remain unbeaten

It may have not been pretty but the Sault Steelers managed to take another bite out of the North Bay Bulldogs on Saturday night.

In a chippy and penalty filled affair, the Steelers managed to put together enough offense to beat North Bay 17-8 at Rocky DiPietro Field. With the win, the Steelers remain unbeaten in the Northern Football Conference at 5-0 and complete the back-to-back game sweep of the Bulldogs.

After the Steelers spanked the Bulldogs in North Bay 37-3 last weekend, tempers were high from the start. Players were making the extra hit at the end of plays and trash talking which led to 142 yards in penalties against the Steelers and 167 against North Bay. Steelers offensive lineman Gord Corbiere was ejected in the first quarter for punching Bulldog linebacker Steve Kerr.

"That's your trash talking, garbage mouthed, bad feeling from the team you played last week. Tempers flare in a contact sport like this and I don't like going back to back like that," said Steelers head coach Barry Rushon.

While not happy with their team play, the Steelers will take the win and continue what has been a franchise season in the new Steeler era.

"It wasn't one of typical wins. We were very undisciplined but our defense was good and as good as they had to be. Offensively, we kept shooting ourselves in the foot with undisciplined penalties. We picked up offsides and objectionable conducts and that is unacceptable and has to stop," said Rushon.

Keegan Franklin opened the scoring on a one-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. North Bay jumped ahead in the second quarter as Adam Nicolson scored on a 75-yard pass and run from quarterback Mark McLeod and a single off a missed field goal.

But the Steelers came up with a big play with seven seconds remaining in the first half when quarterback Travis McLean hooked up with Tony Boniferro for 56 yard touchdown pass to put the Steelers ahead 14-8 at the break.

In the second half, the Steelers Jamie Kennedy recorded a safety and Anthony Posteraro, who kicked two converts, scored a 58-yard punt single.

"It's a big win for us. We wanted to stay on the roll and keep this thing going in the right direction," said Rushon. "We still have a long haul ahead of us. We have a tough game on the road next week and it would sure be nice to get that one last win on the road to set us up the rest of the way."

Franklin led the Steelers rushing attack with 80 yards on 23 carries while Toby Traveson added 50 yards on 10 carries. McLean completed six of 10 passes for 120 yards, a touchdown and an interception while Seth Cond completed one of four passes for 14 yards and an interception. Boniferro caught two passes for 61 yards and James O'Hara caught two balls for 33 yards. Kennedy led the Steelers defense with five tackles and half a sack while Brandon Lewis recorded four tackles and 1.5 sacks. Gord Campbell made four tackles and batted down three passes from the defensive line, Jason Brunetti added four tackles and James Albidone recorded 3.5 tackles. Matti Tucker blocked a Bulldog punt.

The Steelers hit the road for a game in Toronto against Mega City next Saturday before ending the season with a pair of home games against Oshawa on July 20 and Sudbury July 26.

The Oshawa game was originally scheduled for July 19 but has been moved to the next day due to field unavailability. The game time has yet to be announced.