Darkness brings early end to Steelers return

As darkness settled in on Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday night, the parking lot of the John Rhodes Community Centre was more brightly lit in spots than Rocky DiPietro Field.

The only issue was that the parking lot wasn’t hosting the Sault Steelers Northern Football Conference season opener against the Tri-City Outlaws.

Pending a league decision, the teams will come out of the game with a 13-13 tie after a lighting issue at the field meant the teams couldn’t play the second half of their scheduled contest.

When the teams came back on the field for the second half, the lights were turned on at the field. The only issue was, one endzone was in darkness as only a portion of the lights turned on.

Discussion between the teams and the officials led to an agreement that the game would end in a tie due to unsafe playing conditions at the field.

Steelers coach Brandon Lewis called the circumstances unfortunate.

“It’s hard to take,” Lewis said. “I’ve never had that happen in 28 years. I didn’t think that was something we would have to deal with tonight.”

It was a night in which the Steelers were returning to action at home for the first time since the summer of 2019 and honoured Jason Brunetti’s induction into the NFC hall of fame.

As for the game itself, Lewis was pleased with what he saw in the opening half of the game.

“We had some control of the game,” Lewis said. “On offence, we were controlling the ball and moving the ball well. On defence, our defence was completely stifling and shutting them right down. They’re a tough team. They’ve got some athletes too.”

“For it to come out tied at 13 at half, we were pretty happy with that,” Lewis added.

Lewis also described the feeling of being back for the first time since prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was amazing to be out on the field,” Lewis said about the season getting underway. “Rocky DiPietro Field feels like my second home for all these years. Just the feeling of being back on the field and having football again was just a really good feeling.”

The Steelers are on the road for the next two weekend, traveling to Sudbury next Saturday to take on the Spartans before facing the North Bay Bulldogs.