Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Cody Fajardo passes while being chased by B.C. Lions' Ben Hladik during the second half of a CFL football game in Vancouver on Aug. 26, 2022. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

By Britton Gray, CJME News

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A trip to the west coast had Cody Fajardo throwing with a lot more confidence.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns Friday in a 23-16 win over the B.C. Lions in Vancouver.

“It was a good win. We did a lot of good things, we’ve got a lot of things to improve on but we needed that. That locker room needed that more than (people) know,” Fajardo said. “It’s a good feeling in there and a lot of guys are smiling and we really worked hard.

“The confidence thing was blown a little bit out of proportion; it really was the confidence after getting pulled was not great. I’ve won a lot of football games as a quarterback so my confidence will never be down.”

It was only the second time this season that Fajardo threw for more than 300 yards in a game; he had 311 yards in Week 1 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

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The performance came a week after Fajardo was pulled after throwing for only 41 yards with two interceptions in a 28-10 loss to the Lions at Mosaic Stadium.

But despite benching Fajardo last week, head coach Craig Dickenson said he still has a lot of faith in the 30-year-old.

“I feel very strongly he is the right guy and I feel very good about his performance and I’m proud of him,” Dickenson said.

Fajardo also added 38 yards on the ground but also moved around in the pocket and escaped the rush a bit more than he has in recent weeks. He’s dealing with a medial collateral ligament injury in his left knee he suffered in Week 2 against the Edmonton Elks.

“I told (offensive co-ordinator Jason) Maas if I’m going to go down, I’m going to go down with stuff I feel comfortable about and the quarterback run game is something I feel comfortable about,” Fajardo said. “He did a tremendous job calling the game and game planning this week and doing a lot of things that made me feel comfortable and in rhythm.”

Last Friday, Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke was injured in the fourth quarter, so Michael O’Connor started in his place in the rematch in Vancouver.

O’Connor completed six of 15 passes for 94 yards before he left Friday’s game due to an injury. Antonio Pipkin replaced O’Connor and completed nine passes for 112 yards and a touchdown to Jacob Scarfone.

Kian Schaffer-Baker was the playmaker for the Riders in the win, hauling in five catches for 170 yards. He and Fajardo connected on an 85-yard pass-and-run touchdown; Schaffer-Baker also had a 49-yard reception.

“He did a tremendous job of tracking down some deep balls. We got a sprinkle of Jesus on one of them with a tipped ball,” Fajardo said. “Our offence could use some of that. That might be the biggest difference between 2019 and now: We could use a few more sprinkles of Jesus.”

While Schaffer-Baker had the best game of his career at slotback, Dickenson said the move was made as a necessity. The team was without Shaq Evans (ankle), Duke Williams (hip), Justin McInnis (ankle) and Mitch Picton (ankle) this week.

“We didn’t have enough receivers so we played the rookie (Samuel Emilus) at the outside position and we moved Schaffer-Baker in because he knows the position,” Dickenson said. “He just seems to play his best when the lights are on.”

Slotback Tevin Jones had the other touchdown catch for Saskatchewan.

Running back Frankie Hickson handled rushing duties for the team, carrying the ball 15 times for 129 yards. He was given the start with Jamal Morrow shut down for the next six to eight weeks with a broken hand.

“This feels amazing. You never want someone to get injured, especially someone in your own crew, but when one goes down, another has to get up,” Hickson said. “I’m glad I could do that for the team.”

The Riders’ offence had 446 total yards compared to the Lions’ 238 in the game. The productive Saskatchewan offence came despite giving up seven sacks in the game.

The win was a positive step for the Riders, who had lost four of their previous five games.

“(This win) helps us in the standings. We were in trouble there for a little bit, but I feel like this win doesn’t save us from anything. But we feel like we’re playing better and hopefully we can build off it,” Dickenson said. “We’re going to have to win some games down the stretch against some good teams.”

The Riders (6-5) are to host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (10-1) on Sept. 4 in the Labour Day Classic.

“We’ve got a little bit of a longer break which is nice so some guys can heal up. Winnipeg is the top team in the league and they’ve shown that for the last three (seasons) why they are one of the top teams,” Fajardo said. “We’ve got our hands full and we just want to go out and give ourselves a chance in that game.”