Steelers victorious on road in opener

The Northern Football Conference regular season opened on Saturday night for the Sault Steelers.

Originally slated to open the season Saturday at home, a schedule change after a Toronto-based team withdrew from the league meant the Steelers would open the season on the road in Sudbury.

The Steelers proceeded pick up a 15-6 win over the Sudbury Spartans at Sudbury’s James Jerome Sports Complex.

The Spartans opened the scoring late in the opening quarter when Victor Paajanen caught a pass from Nick Rideout and turned it into a 48-yard touchdown with just over a minute to go in the quarter, A missed convert on the play left the Spartans with a 6-0 lead.

The Steelers got on the board with 98 seconds to go in the half when the Spartans surrendered a safety to make it a 6-2 game.

The Steelers proceeded to take the lead thanks to a 75 yard touchdown from Dan Leduc on the Steelers next possession with 1:26 to go in the half. A convert by Brady Smith made it 9-6 Steelers heading into the half.

The Steelers took a nine-point lead in the third quarter when Taylor Holub scored on a 12-yard pass from Ryan Yost with just over seven minutes to go in the quarter, ultimately capping off the scoring in the game.

Defensively for the Steelers, Andrew Batman led the way with 4.5 tackles while Connor Boudreau and Darian Belkosky had four each.

The Steelers also picked off three passes by Spartans quarterback Nick Rideout in the victory.

Andrew Kilby and Brandon Soucy had four tackles each for the Spartans.

The Steelers and Spartans are set to meet again on June 10 in the next action for both clubs as the teams cap off a home-and-home set to start the NFC season. Kickoff at Rocky DiPietro Field is set for 7:30 p.m.