Comeback Boatmen strike again
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 the Argos to a 24-23 win over the B.C. Lions on Saturday afternoon. Franklin put the home side 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 CFL start, completing 18 of 29 passes for 260 yards with a TD. On Aug. 2, Bethel-Thompson 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,” Bethel-Thompson said. “I’m learning more each time I go out there.”
Head coach Marc Trestman put Bethel-Thompson’s performance into perspective: “We now have a quarterback who’s played eight quarters, that’s it. 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 victory when he had a clear path to the end zone after an interception with just over two minutes remaining, 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 midfield with 38 seconds left. That thrilled the season-high gathering of 18,104 at BMO Field, with the CNE underway.
“Marcus is too good a player to not make up for that,” Bethel-Thompson said. “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 one.
“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. We were undisciplined, couldn’t contain the quarterback, couldn’t finish drives. But in the third and fourth quarters we found a resilience, an edge and a way to win the game.”
James Wilder Jr. was also a key figure for Toronto. He ran for a game-high 91 yards on 18 carries and added four catches for 49 yards.
“We’re becoming a secondhalf team,” he said of the defending champions. “We’ve got to have that the whole game. We’re finishing strong right now, that’s the main thing.”
Toronto pulled into a secondplace tie with the idle Hamilton Tiger-Cats at 3-5. The rivals will meet in a home-and-home se- ries starting on Labour Day. B.C., also at 3-5, remains in a virtual tie for fourth in the West Division with the 3-4 Saskatchewan Roughriders, who face the 7-0 Calgary Stampeders on Sunday. The Lions are also tied with Toronto and Hamilton in a crossover playoff scenario. Lions coach Wally Buono made his final regular-season visit to Toronto. The CFL leader in coaching victories (276161-3) 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 the Argos.
“They outcompeted us,” Buono said.
B.C. starter Travis Lulay completed 21 of 35 passes for 285 yards with a touchdown and interception and the Lions fell to 0-5 on the road.
Bethel-Thompson was drilled on the play but still found Anthony Coombs for a 20-yard touchdown pass at 10:26 of the third, cutting the Lions’ lead to 20-17. Coombs, in his first game after recovering from an ankle injury, had three catches for 56 yards and a five-yard run.