Aug 2, 2018; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Argonauts defeat the Ottawa Redblacks 42-41 at BMO Field. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski
So, how was your Thursday night?
Probably not as good as McLeod Bethel-Thompson’s.
After a lacklustre opening 30 minutes, the 30 year-old quarterback proved worthy of the confidence shown in him by head coach Marc Trestman. He showed poise, leadership skills, scrambling ability, and great arm strength.
Not bad for a first CFL start.
Perhaps the best snapshot of his ability came in the third drive of the third quarter. He hit S.J. Green with three consecutive passes on the way to the end zone, each one showing off a different skill. Diontae Spencer had just returned a punt for a TD to give the Redblacks a 38-14 lead when Bethel-Thompson, knowing the game was essentially over if the Argos didn’t post some points, went to work.
On a second-and-10 he hit Green on a curl route for 16 yards. He threw it low, to a place where only the receiver could make the catch. It extended the drive.
The next play he showed some confidence, dropping his shoulder to freeze the safety, then delivering a strike 30 yards downfield, hitting Green in stride. He placed it beyond the cornerback, and the fake, combined with the velocity of the pass, ensured the safety couldn’t get there in time. It resulted in a 48-yard gain and the Argos had a first down at the Ottawa 15-yard line.
Bethel-Thompson would go to No. 19 a third-straight time on the next play. Green ran a simple crossing route at the Ottawa one-yard line. The QB threw a bullet, hitting the receiver in full stride. He was immediately tackled, but James Franklin came in and scored on the next play.
That series gave the offence some zip, and must have given the first-time starter some added confidence. It was the turning point in a rather remarkable comeback.
The forgotten plays.
While one former Argo torched his former team with a punt return, another inadvertently made the comeback win possible.
Early in the fourth quarter, Trevor Harris – yet another former Argo – dumped the ball off to his namesake, R.J. Harris. The receiver took the bubble screen and cut across the field. What he didn’t expect to see at the 20-yard line, 35 yards downfield, was left tackle SirVincent Rogers. The 320 pounder had sprinted downfield to make a block, but the two got their legs tangled up and Harris hit the turf. Rogers was perhaps the only tackler that could have kept him from scoring, though Jermaine Gabriel may have caught the by then exhausted ball carrier.
What may be lost due to the comedic nature of that blooper were the next two plays by the Argo defence.
On first down Ottawa gave the ball to William Powell. He wanted to go off tackle to the right. Nothing doing as Frank Beltre had set the edge. The running back then looked to take it wide to the left. Nope. Troy Davis was disciplined and had contain, forcing Powell back to the middle where Dylan Wynn forced him to turn around again. When he did, Davis was waiting there to make the tackle with some help from Marcus Ball.
The next play the Redblacks isolated Spencer, hitting him with a six-yard pass, but he was blanketed by Trumaine Washington, who made an excellent open-field tackle.
The apparent Ottawa touchdown turned into a field goal. Those four points the Argo defence saved – albeit with some help from SVR – ended up being game saving.
The Blue Wall
While there’s still work to do with the Argos overall defence, there’s been a major improvement in one specific area – stopping the run.
After getting torched by Winnipeg’s Andrew Harris, the club’s commitment to stopping the run has paid off.
After a 161-yard effort on July 21, he found it much tougher to succeed six days later. The league’s leading rusher was held to 28 yards on ten carries, an average of 2.8 yards per rush.
Thursday night the Argos faced the CFL’s second-leading rusher and did an even better job. William Powell carried the ball 14 times for a mere 35 yards, an average of just 2.5 yards per carry. He was also a non-factor in the passing game, with just a pair of receptions for nine yards.
As Cassius Vaughn told Argonauts.ca earlier this week, it’s a long way from being a championship defence, the unit’s ultimate goal. The good news is the group is making positive strides, and the vastly improved run defence is reason for optimism.
Divine Intervention?
To most Toronto sports fans Herbie Kuhn is the P.A. voice of the Toronto Raptors (Kyle L-L-L-L-Lowry!). A lesser known fact it that Kuhn serves as the team chaplain for both the Raptors and the Argos. He’s a fixture at Argo practices and it’s next to impossible not to smile when you see him, because he has such a positive attitude.
😂 Argos’ chaplain and Toronto Raptors P.A. Announcer extraordinaire, @HerbieKuhn going nuts on the winning touchdown catch last night. You’re a beaut, Herbie! @TorontoArgos @Raptors @mlse pic.twitter.com/u7tbHPQBGB
— Don Landry 🎙💻 (@donlandrymedia) August 3, 2018
At the end of Thursday night’s game, Kuhn was at field level, standing along the sidelines. His intuition about where he should watch the end of the game was perfect, because he was exceptionally close to where Armanti Edwards caught the game-winning TD pass. When the catch was made, Kuhn threw up his arms to signal the touchdown, then stepped forward and pointed at Edwards with both hands, obviously shouting something to the receiver.
He encapsulated the unadulterated joy that each and every Argo fan was feeling at that moment. Kuhn has the respect of everyone in the organization, whether or not they’re members of his bible study class. It was awesome to see him celebrate such an exciting moment with pure excitement.