A deficit through the opening half was too much to overcome for the Sault Steelers on Saturday night.
The Northern Football Conference club trailed 21-7 at the half in a 28-14 loss to the North Bay Bulldogs at St. Joseph Scollard Hall in North Bay Saturday.
The Bulldogs opened the scoring late in the opening quarter when Nick Laporte picked up his first of two touchdowns in the first half with 4:02 to go in the first quarter. Jacob Steringa added the extra point to make it 7-0 North Bay.
With 4:37 to go in the second quarter, North Bay extended the lead thanks to another Laporte major and Steringa point after.
With just over one minute to go in the opening half, Jordan Heather extended the lead further for the home side. Combined with a convert by Steringa, the Bulldogs held a 21-0 lead.
The Steelers got on the board as time expired in the opening half when Taylor Holub caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Yost. Brady Smith hit the extra point to make it a 21-7 game heading into the half.
North Bay made it a three-score game again just over three minutes into the third quarter when Jesse Shoults picked up a touchdown for the Bulldogs. Steringa hit his fourth extra point of the game on the play.
Alanzo Clarke capped off the scoring in the game for the Steelers with 2:52 to go in the fourth quarter. Clarke ran the ball in from 15 yards out for the touchdown. Smith capped the play off with the extra point to make the final 28-14.
Clarke finished the day with 204 yards rushing on 27 carries for the Steelers.
Holub caught a pair of passes for 20 yards for the Steelers while Dan Leduc caught one pass for 55 yards in the loss.
Quarterback Ryan Yost completed four of 17 pass attempts for 76 yards for the Steelers.
Defensively for the Sault, Michael Reid had six tackles while Blake Ianelli had a pair of sacks. Andrew Batman added four tackles.
Detailed game stats for the Bulldogs were not available.
With the win, North Bay remains unbeaten in NFC action at 5-0 while the Steelers fall to 3-2 with the loss and sit in a four-way tie for second in the NFC standings.
The Sarnia Imperials, GTA All Stars, and Tri-City Outlaws also sit at three wins with 3-1 records.
The Hamilton Jaguars are 2-2.
Following a bye week in week seven, the Steelers return to action on July 22 to wrap up regular season action with a game at home against GTA. Kickoff at Rocky DiPietro Field is set for 7:30 p.m.