Both Stewart brothers see pre-season NHL action

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Clifton Dawson's NFL career is now officially off and running.

The Scarborough resident, who rose through the Scarborough-based Thunder football program and who split his high school years between West Hill and Birchmount Park, made his official debut in Week 2 of the NFL season seeing action on the Cincinnati Bengals' special teams Sunday.

With Cincinnati losing a high octane 51-45 offensive shocker to cross-state hosts Cleveland Browns, Dawson's contribution was no doubt modest - one tackle. That came about three minutes into the third quarter with his team kicking off after a field goal.

Dawson is credited with tackling Cleveland kick returner Lennie Friedman on his 21-yard line, limiting him to a return of only one yard.

While earning his stripes on special teams, which is typical for unheralded rookies, Dawson is hoping to catch on in a much more high profile position - running back.

Dawson was picked up by Cincinnati after being among the defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts' final cuts. Dawson was able to put up some solid numbers in three pre-season games, gaining 48 yards on 12 carries.

Dawson departed Harvard as the Ivy League's all-time rushing leader, a mark that had held up since 1971 until Dawson broke it last season. He also holds Ivy League marks for rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns, points and all-purpose yards.

 

SPORTS NOTES: Chris Stewart once gave up hockey to concentrate on playing football for West Hill Collegiate. But the Scarborough resident changed his mind and, with the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League, he played his way into a first round draft selection by the Colorado Avalanche last year.

He had a good training camp last year but was sent back to Kingston where he had a good year with 82 points (36g, 46a) in 61 games. He's back in Colorado's training camp this year and off to a good start in the main camp.

"Stewy (Chris Stewart) was solid (in Day 2) and had a good first day, too," said coach Joel Quenneville, in an interview on the team's website. Stewart saw limited action in Colorado's first exhibition game Monday night, a 4-3 win over Phoenix. Stewart collected one shot in three shifts.

Meanwhile, Chris' brother, Anthony Stewart, who was instrumental in getting Chris back into hockey with the Kingston Frontenacs where he also played at the time, enjoyed a regular shift in the first two Florida Panthers pre-season games, a 5-4 loss in Edmonton Monday and a 3-0 win over Calgary on Sunday.

Anthony, also a first-round draft pick, scored a goal in the Monday night loss where he was a minus-1. In Sunday's win he had an even plus-minus with two penalties. Anthony, who cracked the Florida lineup in his rookie year only to be sidelined with injury after 10 games, is trying to rebound from a bit of the sophomore jinx last year in which he totalled only 27 points (13g, 14a) in 62 games for Florida's AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. The former student at Birchmount Park Collegiate trained in the off-season with sprinter Ben Johnson, a former Scarborough resident.