Late Franklin TD takes down Lions
Argonauts overcome fumble for victory, with Bethel-Thompson solid in second start
TORONTO — Another start, another comeback win for McLeod Bethel-Thompson and the Toronto Argonauts.
James Franklin’s one-yard TD run with 2:59 remaining rallied Toronto to an exciting 24-23 win over the B.C. Lions on Saturday afternoon. Franklin had put the Argos ahead 24-20 at 2:59 of the fourth quarter after they’d fallen behind 20-10 in the third.
Bethel-Thompson was solid in his second Canadian Football League start, completing 18-of-29 passes for 260 yards with a TD. On Aug. 2 he provided plenty of second-half drama with four touchdown passes to rally Toronto from a 24-point deficit in a stirring 42-41 home win over the Ottawa Redblacks.
“We’re still shooting ourselves in the foot in the first half not completing drives,” said Bethel-Thompson. “I’m learning more each time I go out there.”
Head coach Marc Trestman put Bethel-Thompson’s performance in perspective: “We now have a quarterback who’s played eight quarters, that’s it,” he said. “We have to grow with him. He made some very big throws when we needed him to. That’s a work in progress ... our roster is fluid and will be that way until we put it all together.”
Marcus Ball appeared poised to cement the Toronto win when he had a clear path to the end zone on an interception with just over two minutes left. But he fumbled and the Lions’ Chris Rainey recovered at the B.C. 22-yard line.
Ball redeemed himself by recovering Manny Arcenaux’s fumble at centre field with 38 seconds left. That thrilled the season-high BMO Field crowd of 18,104 with the CNE on.
“Marcus is too good a player to not make up for that,” said Bethel-Thompson. “It was one of those glitches. I knew the defence was going to pick that up.”
Tyler Long’s 46-yard field goal at 6:37 of the fourth pulled B.C. to within 24-23.
“In the fourth quarter (of the Ottawa game) and the last half of this game, a light switch went on and we became more of a team we wanted to become,” said Trestman. “We weren’t that team to start this game.”
James Wilder Jr. was also a key figure for Toronto, with a gamehigh 91 yards on 18 carries and an added four catches for 49 yards.
“We’re becoming a second-half team,” he said. “We’ve got to have that the whole game. We’re finishing strong right now, that’s the main thing.”
The contest was big for both teams. Toronto pulled into a second-place tie with the idle Hamilton Tiger-Cats (3-5). The longtime rivals will meet in an important home-and-home series starting on Labour Day.
B.C. (3-5) remains tied for fourth in the West Division with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (3-4), who face the unbeaten Calgary Stampeders (7-0) on Sunday. The Lions are also tied with Toronto and Hamilton in a cross-over scenario.
Lions coach Wally Buono made his final regular-season visit to Toronto. The CFL leader in coaching victories (276-161-3) and seven-time Grey Cup winner (twice as a player, five times as a coach) will retire at season’s end and fell to 32-16 against Toronto.
“They outcompeted us,” Buono said. “In a very, very close game that’s the difference between a stop, that’s the difference between a play and that’s the difference between a point.
B.C. starter Travis Lulay was 21-of-35 passing for 285 yards with a TD and interception. Although the offence had 405 net yards and 23 first downs, it committed three turnovers (two lost fumbles, downs) and accounted for six of the seven penalties as the Lions fell to 0-5 on the road.