On Friday night at BC Place, the Saskatchewan Roughriders took on the BC Lions, looking to get their first win of the season against British Columbia. The Lions came into the game without their star quarterback Nathan Rourke, who had surgery his week on his right foot. Michael O’Connor got the start at quarterback for the Lions.
Meanwhile, the Roughriders were without Jamal Morrow, who had surgery on his broken hand, and Frankie Hickson took over the running duties.
In the first quarter, the Lions took a 3-0 lead on a 35-yard field goal by Sean Whyte. Neither offense could not get anything going, and the Lions had the ball on their own 22-yard line to begin the second quarter up 3-0.
The Lions’ offense moved the ball towards the Roughriders’ 34-yard line before Sean Whyte made a 42-yard field goal for a 6-0 lead with 11:40 left. During that drive, quarterback Michael O’Connor injured his groin and did not return to the game. Antonio Pipkin was the new Lions quarterback.
Saskatchewan’s offense started to wake up on their next drive when Cody Fajardo threw a 49-yard pass to Kian Schaffer-Baker. Then, Frankie Hickson rushed for eight yards into the Lions’ eight-yard line before Brett Lauther made a 20-yard field goal, cutting the Lions’ lead 6-3 with 8:35 left.
The Lions’ offense struggled under Pipkin and punted the ball back to Saskatchewan. On the fifth play, Saskatchewan quarterback Cody Fajardo dropped back with the blitz coming at him and threw an 85-yard touchdown pass to Kian Schaffer-Baker.
During the touchdown, Lions’ defensive back T.J. Lee pulled a hamstring and did not return to the game. Saskatchewan led 10-6 with 3:57 left. Late in the second quarter, Lions’ kicker Sean Whyte made a 19-yard field goal, cutting Saskatchewan’s lead 10-9 with 1:17 left, and Roughriders’ kicker Brett Lauther made a 22-yard field goal for a 13-9 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, it was Roughriders. First, kicker Brett Lauther made a 22-yard field goal for a 16-9 lead with 7:03 left. Then, Cody Fajardo dropped back to pass and threw a 26-yard touchdown to a falling Tevin Jones, who made the catch for the score, and it was 23-9 with 1:01 left.
The Lions had the ball to begin the fourth quarter facing third down, and they punted the ball back to Saskatchewan to start the fourth quarter. The only points scored in the fourth quarter came from the Lions when quarterback Antonio Pipkin threw a seven-yard touchdown to Jacob Scarfone, cutting the Roughriders’ lead 23-16 with 6:09 left.
The Lions had one more opportunity to tie the game but punted the ball with 2:43 left, and the Roughriders had the ball for the rest of the game and took home a 23-16 win. It was the Roughriders’ first win against the Lions this year. Saskatchewan is now 6-5, while the Lions dropped to 8-2.
The injury bug is starting to pile up on the Lions. They will have to make some moves to keep the team afloat while their injured players recover. Meanwhile, this was a game the Roughriders needed to win badly. They made some good plays in the game and now must focus on Winnipeg next week.
Saskatchewan quarterback Cody Fajardo went 19/24 for 321 yards, two touchdowns, and six carries for 38 yards. Running back Frankie Hickson had 15 carries for 129 yards, while wide receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker had five catches for 170 yards and one touchdown. The Roughriders’ defense allowed 251 yards, 35 tackles, one sack, and pass breakups. The Roughriders host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers next Sunday at 6 pm on ESPN+.
BC quarterback Michael O’Connor went 6/15 for 94 yards, while backup Antonio Pipkin was 9/17 for 112 yards, one touchdown, and six carries for 26 yards. Running back James Butler had four carries for 18 yards, and wide receiver Dominique Rhymes had five catches for 83 yards. The Lions’ defense allowed 485 yards, 54 tackles, seven sacks, and one pass breakup. The Lions are off next week.
