Riders turn to Mason Fine as Lions roar to victory

Not much was fine Friday night for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, except the team turned to the quarterback who carries that name.

Mason Fine was given the reins for the final drive of the second quarter and played the rest of the way in the Riders’ 28-10 loss to the B.C. Lions.

“(I was told) a minute before I went out there. (Offensive co-ordinator Jason Maas) just came over on the sideline while the defence was out there and said, ‘You’re going in,’ and then next thing you know, they are punting the ball off and I’m going in there,” Fine said.

Before being pulled from the game, Riders starting quarterback Cody Fajardo had completed eight of 13 passes for 41 yards and two interceptions.

Head coach Craig Dickenson said Fajardo’s nagging knee injury was a factor in the decision to pull him but not the only factor.

“We weren’t clicking at all on offence and I just thought, ‘Let’s do it.’ I was going to do it at half and then we got the ball back with a couple minutes (left in the second quarter) and I just said, ‘Let’s do it now,’ ” Dickenson said.

“To Cody’s credit, he took it like a true pro and knew we had to do what we had to do and he was out there supporting Mason and helping him out in a lot of ways as the second-stringer at that point.”

Dickenson also said a decision will need to be made when it comes to who will be the starting quarterback in the rematch with the Lions on Aug. 27 in B.C.

“That’s a big decision that we’ve got to make this week — what are we going to do at that position,” Dickenson said. “We still believe in Cody and we still believe in our team but we do have to find a way to play better.

“That means we’ve got to look at every position and we’ve got make the right decision at every position.”

Fine led a 61-yard touchdown drive in his first game action. He connected with Justin McInnis for the four-yard score.

Fine finished the game with 16 completions in 26 attempts for 210 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

“It felt good going down there and leading a touchdown drive and try to have that momentum to carry into the second half,” Fine said. “That’s what I’m upset about — that we couldn’t capitalize more in the second half.”

The Lions, who now have an 8-1 record, showed why they were among the CFL’s best teams in the game, scoring a touchdown on their first drive of the game and never looking back.

B.C. quarterback Nathan Rourke was once again playing at a most-outstanding-player level, but he left the game in the fourth quarter after being sacked. He did not return after that play due to a foot injury.

Rourke finished the game with 375 yards passing, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Michael O’Connor went 5-for-5 passing for 36 yards in relief of Rourke.

Lions short-yardage quarterback Antonio Pipkin had four carries for 14 yards and two touchdowns.

“We played 2 1/2 quarters of great football, but football is a four-quarter game,” said linebacker Derrick Moncrief, who had an interception in the game. “We’ve just got to continue to get better, continue to gel together and it’s a beautiful thing that we get to play them again next week.”

Moncrief found himself defending Lions slotback Bryan Burnham for most of the game. While Moncrief did have the interception while in coverage, Burnham was able to haul in a falling one-handed catch for a touchdown in the game.

“I know he moves around. I’ve played against him a lot of times so I’m familiar with how he runs routes and things like that so I tried to make it happen,” Moncrief said. “It was a great catch and an exceptional throw.”

Along with Burnham, wide receiver Lucky Whitehead caught a touchdown pass — a 90-yard play where he got behind the Riders’ defence.

The Riders, now at 5-5, find themselves in fourth place in the CFL’s West Division and seemingly unable to find the next gear to match up with the top teams in the league.

But Fine thinks the team has the potential to put something special together to end the season.

“Just stay together, keep working and stay positive. We’ve had a lot of things not go our way this season but I think we have the right guys in our locker room to make a late-season push,” Fine said.

“I’ve been on teams who have hit their stride early in the season (and) I’ve been on teams that have hit their stride in the middle of the season. I fully believe in this team and what you want to do is hit your stride at the end of the season.

“I feel like we are that close. I know it may not feel like it at times, but we are.”

In order to take those next steps, Dickenson said the team just needs to be better.

“We’ve got to play with more confidence and it’s hard to do that when you’re not playing as well as you wish,” Dickenson said. “It’s going to be a competitive week of practice, I can tell you that, and we’ve got to find out who our playmakers are.”