Roughriders win first game back from COVID-19 layoff

His team stormed out to a 31-0 second quarter lead, only to see them hang on for victory by only a four-point margin a 33-29 victory over the B.C. Lions.

Ordinarily, a head coach might be concerned by an obvious lack of killer instinct, but when the Saskatchewan Roughriders' on-field boss puts it all into perspective, it's all good.

Craig Dickenson coached in a gamefor the first time in nearly 21 months, after COVID-19 wiped out the entire 2020 season and threatened to do the same with 2021.

But a 14-game season is better than nothing at all, and with more 33,000 fans in attendance to take in the first one, Dickenson will take the Wany way he can get it.

"I told the guys before the game to just embrace it, soak it all in," Dickenson said after the game.

"The emotion of being out there again, the feeling of all the fans, I found myself getting emotional during the national anthem and I just went with it. We waited a long time for this."

They waited 628 days, to be exact.

That's a long time between paycheques, especially for a player trying to make a living in the CFL.

Quarterback Cody Fajardo found himself crying when the team was re-introduced to the fans.

"I started tearing up in the tunnel when I was running out to the game and you hear the crowd. It was one of those emotional roller-coasters, because you're so excited and then you gotta go play and guys are trying to take your head off."

Fajardo played the first half like there was no layoff whatsoever.

The 2019 West Division most outstanding player nomineecompleted his first 15 passes, leading the Riders to a 31-0 lead.

He finished the game 28 for 35 for 230 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and a Week 1 victory.

"Thinking of this first game and to be able to win in front of a sold-out Mosaic was pretty special to me, and definitely now that I think about it, is a top five game in my mind for sure in my career."

It was certainly the most lucrative for the 29-year-old pivot.

He will cash his first game cheque from a contract with a base salary of $250,000 a season, signed last January, which will take him through 2022.

2nd half momentum shift

Fajardo also played his first game under a Jason Maas offence, a playbook he describes as one of the most complex he's ever worked with, basically designed to get the ball out of the quarterback's hands faster and into the hands of the playmakers.

One such playmaker is Brayden Lenius, who Fajardo described as the star of training camp.

The Regina-born receiver scored his first career touchdown Friday night.

"I was supposed to give that ball to my mom but that thing is in the stands, I was so excited."

Lenius, William Powell, Kyran Moore and Nick Marshall on an interception return scored the majors for Saskatchewan in the first half as they took a 32-9 lead into the locker room.

The second half was a different story, as the Riders could only muster a single point while the Lions responded to get within four.

Michael "don't call me Mike anymore" Reilly could not start the game because of an injured throwing arm.

Clearly he wasn't faking, as his throws resembled a drunken duck.

Somehow, Reilly managed 203 passing yards, getting the Lions back into the game.

The momentum shift left Coach Dickenson with some concerns, but the positives outweighed the negatives.

The biggest takeaway was the sight of more than 33,000 fans in the stands.

It was easily the largest mass gathering in Saskatchewan since the start of the pandemic, on a day which reminded us COVID-19 is far from done.

The province hit its highest active case total on Friday in nearly six weeks, and undoubtedly many who packed the park were unvaccinated.

But its football team played a game for the first time in more than 20 months and in front of fans.

Let's celebrate that for now.

There will be another mass gathering next Saturday night when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats come to town.