REGINA — Cody Fajardo threw two touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a 38-25 victory over the reeling B.C. Lions on Saturday.
Fajardo’s three-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter pushed the Riders ahead 25-19, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
William Powell added an insurance score with a three-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and Shaq Evans hauled in a 50-yard touchdown catch on the Riders’ second possession of the quarter to put the game out of reach.
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— Saskatchewan Roughriders (@sskroughriders) July 21, 2019
Fajardo also connected with Kyran Moore on a 39-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown in the first quarter. Moore made a difficult, twisting catch and then outran the Lions to the end zone, a score that gave Saskatchewan an early 8-3 lead.
Fajardo rushed for a team-high 53 yards. Evans had five catches for 158 yards.
Mike Reilly’s one-yard touchdown plunge gave the Lions a brief 16-10 lead late in the second quarter.
However, Marcus Thigpen returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and the Riders led 17-16 at halftime.
With the win, the Riders improved to 2-3. The Lions fell to 1-5, the first time they have started a season with five losses in six games since 2011.
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Saskatchewan’s Charleston Hughes was a thorn in Reilly’s side all game. Hughes sacked the B.C. quarterback three times and stripped him of the ball twice. He also had 10 tackles.
Reilly has been sacked a CFL-high 21 times this season.
Sergio Castillo kicked four field goals for B.C.
B.C.’s Bryan Burnham had eight catches for 106 yards. Reilly threw for 346 yards and one touchdown, a four-yard strike to Jevon Cottoy with three seconds remaining in the game.
Entering the game, B.C. posted a CFL-worst 307 yards per game and ranked eighth in the league averaging 17.6 points per game.
The same two teams will conclude the home-and-home series next Saturday in Vancouver.
Craig Slater, The Canadian Press
