On a day when they were honouring their past, the Sault Steelers picked up a crucial victory on the field and did so in dramatic fashion.
A Jesse Hill field goal from 14-yards out and a final-minute interception by Connor Boudreau was the difference as the Steelers came from behind to beat the Sudbury Spartans 27-25 on Saturday night at Rocky DiPietro Field in Northern Football Conference action.
In what was the final home game of the regular season for the Steelers, the organization was celebrating its 50th anniversary and the win took on added meaning as it helped the team clinch a home playoff game in two weeks.
The field goal was one of a pair for Hill, who also booted a 21-yarder to open the scoring for the home side in the first half.
After Hill got the Steelers on the board early, the Spartans took a 14-3 lead thanks to a 70-yard touchdown catch by veteran Nick Rideout, who also kicked the convert on the major.
Victor Paajanen extended Sudbury’s lead on a seven-yard touchdown catch to make it 14-3 after the convert by Rideout.
Before the end of the opening half, the Steelers cut the lead to five when Taylor Holub caught a four-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Yost to send the game into the half with the visitors up by a 14-9 margin.
Holub gave the Steelers the lead early in the second half on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Yost before a convert by Hill to make it 16-14 Steelers.
Rideout picked up his second major of the day on a 62-yard pass from Adan Rocha. After Rideout kicked the convert, Sudbury was back on top by a five-point margin.
The teams continued to trade points as Alonzo Clarke put the Steelers back ahead thanks to a one-yard touchdown run. A two-point convert by Holub gave the Steelers a 24-21 lead.
A Spartans rouge cut the Steelers lead to 24-22 and Rideout then gave the Spartans the lead on a 17-yard field goal to make it 25-24 and set the stage for the late-game heroics by Hill and Boudreau.
Offensively for the Steelers, Yost finished the day with 204 yards on 12 of 26 passing.
Brock Hoover caught four passes for the Steelers for 94 yards while Holub made seven catches for 66 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Clarke ran the ball 23 times for 61 yards for the Steelers.
Defensively, Boudreau made four tackles before an interception with 48 seconds to go in regulation time that sealed the win for the Steelers.
Michael Reid had 11 tackles for the Steelers while Darien Belkosky had seven and Justin Cond added six.
Rideout finished the day with 162 yards receiving on just three catches. In addition to the two touchdowns, Rideout caught a 30-yard pass in the loss.
Rocha completed 13 of 27 pass attempts for the Spartans in the loss for 250
Roberto Zulich ran the ball eight times for 70 yards for Sudbury.
Defensively for the Spartans, Benjamin Cacciotti had nine tackles.
Eric Breau added six tackles while Matthew Guerra, Andrew Kilby, and Jean Joseph had five each.
With the win, the Steelers finish off the regular season with a 3-2-1 record and will host an opening round playoff game on Aug. 6.
Sudbury caps off the season with a 5-1-0 record.