Matt Smith/CFL.ca
REGINA — When Cody Fajardo was heading out onto the field at Mosaic Stadium on Friday night for his first game in over 600 days, he couldn’t help but get emotional.
“I started tearing up in the tunnel when I was running out to the game and you hear the crowd,” Fajardo told members of the media on a Zoom call following his team’s victory over the BC Lions.
“It was one of those emotional roller coasters where, you’re like tearing up because you’re so excited and then you got to go play and guys are trying to take your head off. So (I was) just trying to manage the emotions, but (it was) a good first week win. That’s a really good BC Lions team that had no quit in them and they played all the way down to the wire.”
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Fajardo took that emotion and channeled it into execution, completing the majority of the passes he was making as his offence was firing on all cylinders to start the contest. The Riders pivot finished the evening connecting on 28 of 35 passes (80%) for 230 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
“When I did throw my first incompletion, I kind of felt good about it,” admitted Fajardo. “Because I remember, someone came to me on the sidelines and says, ‘you don’t have an incompletion yet.’ I was like, ‘what? I don’t?’ So when you throw your first incompletion, at least it takes the pressure off.”
It was the tale of two halves for both teams in the second game of the 2021 CFL season. After falling behind 31-0 in the first half, the Lions were able to come back from the break and make it a game.
Rookie Canadian QB Nathan Rourke was in control at the start of the game for Leos in place of an injured Michael Reilly, who appeared to be BC’s starting pivot until the very last minute. The quarterback carousel was turning, however, when Reilly came in in the second half. His entrance helped to light a fire under the Lions, helping to add points to the board for the visiting team.
As the Leos were rolling – thanks to a TD pass from Reilly to James Butler and a second from Rourke to Bryan Burnham – Fajardo and his offence had quite a different second half from their first two frames.
The only Roughrider point that was scored in the final two quarters was thanks to punter Jon Ryan (a single).
“I don’t think I could have played that game in my head, the way it went down, the way we started,” Fajardo said. “And then the way the second half was like, I don’t think you can kind of expect that.
“It was one of those things where I just found myself on the sideline and I felt like I just got out of rhythm. You got to find a way to get back in rhythm when your offence is sputtering but the guys did a tremendous job tonight.”
Fajardo gave credit to his offensive line, receivers and running back, but also to the Roughriders defence, who got into the action as well. Defensive back Nick Marshall scored a pick-six and Deon Lacey and Garrett Marino both collected a sack in the win.
“Really just finding a way to win at home early on in the season builds character for the team,” said Fajardo. “I think that was a big character game for us. We understood that one side of the ball doesn’t always have to do everything, but we can pick each other up.
“So it was just really emotional. Because thinking back 18 months, thinking of this first game, and to be able to win in front of a sold out Mosaic was was pretty special to me.”
