Roughriders quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 23 of 27 passes on Saturday, matching Ron Lancaster's totals from a memorable 1976 game.
Cody Fajardo has just treated Saskatchewan Roughriders fans to a sprinkling of Ron Lancaster.
One reminder of the iconic Little General was uncanny as Fajardo piloted Saskatchewan to Saturday’s 41-16 CFL victory over the host Toronto Argonauts.
Consider Fajardo’s passing numbers: 23-for-27 for 278 yards and three touchdowns, with nary an interception.
Compare those stats to No. 23’s dazzling data from Aug. 15, 1976: 23-for-27 for 290 yards and three touchdowns, without an interception.
It was, in this seasoned scribbler’s assessment, Lancaster’s finest game — one in which Saskatchewan blanked the Edmonton Eskimos 40-0 at Taylor Field.
He systemically sliced and diced the Eskimos’ defence with short and intermediate passes before seizing an opportunity to go over the top — the result being a touchdown toss to Tom Campana, who made a diving catch in the north end zone.
Similarly, Fajardo patiently and precisely lacerated the Argonauts’ alleged defence until the fourth quarter, when he launched a 55-yard touchdown bomb to Manny Arceneaux.
It was an empathic exit for Fajardo, who spent the remainder of the game watching Bryan Bennett and Isaac Harker accept snaps for Saskatchewan.
Back in 1976, then-Roughriders head coach John Payne removed Lancaster from the Edmonton game during the third quarter, whereupon Dave Syme saw extended garbage-time duty.
There are, of course, distinct differences.
By 1976, Lancaster had been a member of Roughriders royalty for the better part of a decade — his legendary status having been cemented when he threw three TD passes in Saskatchewan’s first Grey Cup win.
Lancaster had just turned 28 when he guided Saskatchewan to its ice-breaking, 29-14 victory over the Ottawa Rough Riders on Nov. 26, 1966.
Fajardo, at 27, has started only 12 CFL games — all of them this season.
With that in mind, it may be considered a stretch to mention Lancaster and Fajardo in the same sentence, even though this passage has, in fact, survived the scrutiny of chainsaw-wielding copy editors.
Nonetheless, when you watch Fajardo dissect a defence to the tune of 23-for-27, how do you not sit back, marvel, and wonder where all this is leading?
As the 2019 season dawned, who could have envisioned Fajardo becoming such a sensation in Saskatchewan?
It was reasonable to suggest that he would receive considerable playing time. After all, anyone who begins a season as the next man up behind the fragile Zach Collaros can expect to be elevated to front-line status at some point.
But it was still a shock to see Fajardo assume the reins so quickly — after an illegal hit by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ Simoni Lawrence left Collaros concussed on just the third play from scrimmage of the 2019 season.
The loss of the starting quarterback at such an early juncture could have been catastrophic.
However, one inspection of the CFL’s West Division standings confirms that the Roughriders are just fine, thank you.
With a 9-4 record, they are tied for first place with the perennially powerful Calgary Stampeders. (Calgary gets the nod, at least for the time being, by virtue of having won 37-10 at Mosaic Stadium on July 6.)
If the Roughriders defeat the 9-5 Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium), the odds will be favourable for a home playoff game.
When the Blue Bombers last visited Regina, Fajardo led the Roughriders on a late-fourth-quarter drive that set up Brett Lauther’s game-winning field goal.
The script has unfolded in comparable fashion in three of Saskatchewan’s past four home games, with Fajardo repeatedly engineering fourth-quarter comeback victories.
Sometimes, Fajardo’s statistics are not eye-popping, but his timing is impeccable, his mindset indomitable.
He has quickly established himself as someone who should be feared by rival teams with the game on the line.
As long as there is time on the clock, it is unwise to bet against him.
The same cautionary note often resonated when Lancaster called signals for Saskatchewan.
The aforementioned 1976 season was one of his finest, which is saying something. In November of that year, he became the Roughriders’ first two-time recipient of the CFL’s most-outstanding-player award.
The 1976 Roughriders secured first place in the Western Conference when Lancaster rallied them from 24-0 and 27-8 deficits and ultimately celebrated a 33-31 victory in Calgary on the final day of the regular season.
As time expired, Lancaster found Rhett Dawson for a three-yard, game-winning major.
Lancaster’s opposite number in that Nov. 7, 1976 classic was none other than then-Stampeders quarterback John Hufnagel, who is now the president and general manager of the defending Grey Cup champions from Calgary.
All these years later, it is conceivable that another Saskatchewan quarterback — Fajardo — will leave Hufnagel disappointed when November arrives.
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September 29, 2019 at 08:04PM
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