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It was a dominating performance from Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive end Charleston Hughes as the Green and White won an important West Division showdown 38-25 over the B.C. Lions Saturday.
Hughes put a defensive clinic for the fans at Mosaic Stadium, sacking Lions quarterback Mike Reilly three times while recording 10 tackles and two forced fumbles.
“(It looks like) he’s not getting any older,” Roughriders defensive back Ed Gainey said when asked about the play of the 35-year-old defensive end. “(Charleston’s) doing everything right, he’s doing everything he needs to do. I’m thankful to have him on my team.”
After the game, head coach Craig Dickenson said Hughes was dealing with a heel issue.
Another person thankful to have Hughes on his team is Roughriders quarterback Cody Fajardo.
“I’m very happy that I don’t have to face our defensive line,” Fajardo said. “I think our defensive line, and I’ll state it the entire season, is the best in the league.”
Fajardo was able to bounce back Saturday following an 89 passing yard, two interception performance on July 6 against the Calgary Stampeders.
Fajardo, who was making his fourth career start, finished the game 17 of 23 passing with 278 yards and two touchdowns but did throw two interceptions. Fajardo, who’s known as a running quarterback, also ran eight times for 53 yards and a touchdown.
Fajardo said the designed quarterback runs played into their strengths this week.
“It’s just hard for defences to account for all 12 guys when the quarterback’s able to run,” Fajardo said. “I think it’s going to help our run game a lot. Hopefully I don’t have to run it that many times but we’ll see.”
Earlier in the week, Fajardo challenged the offence to show more energy on the sidelines and celebrate big plays. Fajardo and the receiving group was able to give them a lot to celebrate, with big plays coming all game. Fajardo connected with wide receiver Kyran Moore for a 39-yard touchdown and wide receiver Shaq Evans for a 50-yard touchdown. Evans had a monster game, finishing with five catches for 158 yards and the one touchdown grab.
Fajardo also ran in a four-yard touchdown while running back William Powell added a three-yard touchdown rush. Kicker Gabriel Ferraro finished a perfect four-for-four during extra point attempts. Ferraro started his second straight game with starting kicker Brett Lauther dealing with a groin injury.
Fajardo through a interception in the first quarter to B.C. defensive back Victor Gamboa after the ball tipped off the hands of Moore.
“The guys just continued to have energy (after the interception) and that was so awesome. It helped me get out of the rut,” Fajardo said. “During the bye week my biggest thing was if something bad happens, just play the next play and I think I did a great job doing that. It all goes to those (receivers) being able to bring that energy for me.”
Fajardo’s other interception came on a failed two-point conversion play when Davon Coleman picked the pass off.
Running back Marcus Thigpen also brought a spark to the team after the team went down 16-10 in the second quarter following a Reilly rushing touchdown near the end of the first half. The 33-year-old returned the kick on the next play 100-yards for a touchdown. According to the Leader-Post’s Rob Vanstone, it was the longest kick return since 1971 when running back Bobby Thompson returned a kick 115-yards, also against the Lions.
Thigpen said he loves to perform when the pressure is on him to spark the team.
“It was great. We came out in the second-half and capitalized on offence and the defence did well and it carried over,” Thigpen said. “I told William Powell that I was going to score on a return this week. I spoke it into existence.”
Reilly finished the game with 31 completions on 40 attempts with a touchdown to Jevon Cottoy (three yards) and an interception by Roughriders defensive back Loucheiz Puriofy.
Dickenson said the success they had came from a good week of practice.
“That’s the message we try to get to them – you execute on game day put the preparation you put in throughout the week is what allows you to do that,” Dickenson said. “(The week of practice) wasn’t perfect but I also thought our conditioning and physical play stepped up in the second half and we were able to wear B.C. Down a little bit.”
The team will once again prepare for the Lions as it heads to Vancouver for a game on July 27.
Dickenson said the team will need to improve if they want to win in B.C.
“We feel pretty good about the win but we will go back and look at the film and realize we could’ve done a lot of things better,” Dickenson said. “There’s good coaches over there (in B.C.) and if you do the same thing, they are going to make you pay.”
The win improves the Roughriders’ record to 2-3 on the season while the Lions drop to 1-5 and last place in the Western Division.