McLeod Bethel-Thompson battles through adversity to win second CFL start

TORONTO — McLeod Bethel-Thompson helped lead the Toronto Argonauts to another victory in Week 10, completing 62% of his passes for 260 yards and a touchdown in a 24-23 win against the BC Lions. The 30-year-old quarterback won his second straight CFL start by getting the ball into the hands of Toronto’s top playmakers, and he also found a way to overcome personal loss.

“We lost an amazing human this week,” Bethel-Thompson said after the win. “My uncle, Fernando Llort, he’s an artist in El Salvador and one of the greatest artists in the entire world. I felt him tonight. He wasn’t helping me, he was just watching. He’s an amazing human being and the world is going to miss him deeply.”

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» Bethel-Thompson, Wilder Jr. lead Argos to close victory over Lions

It was the second game in a row in which the Argos came from behind to win by a single point, and Thompson knows the team has some serious adjustments to make moving forward.

“Like last week, we got in our own way in the first half,” Bethel-Thompson said. “We gotta build and not do that next week obviously if we want to have a chance to win. We can’t win every game by a point.”

Bethel-Thompson did his part by managing the offence and distributing the ball efficiently for four quarters. He knows that relying on the talent around him is the key to success in these early starts.

“I need to get out of my own way and just put the ball in places that they can make plays,” Bethel-Thompson said. “It’s so comforting to have those five guys in front of me and those six guys catching the ball and running the ball. It makes my job really easy.”

The Argos enjoyed enthusiastic support from a large home crowd at BMO field on Saturday, and it was clear that being at home gave the team the edge they needed.

“We could definitely hear them at the end,” Bethel-Thompson said. “It was so good to see Argos fans come out and give us the home field advantage.”

While there is certainly room for the entire team to improve as they set their sights on Week 11, Bethel-Thompson is focused on doing everything he can to become the best quarterback he can be for the Argos.

“I’m worried about winning a third game and cleaning up the stuff I need to clean up,” Bethel-Thompson said. “There’s so much footwork-wise from the tip of my toes to the top of my head that I can do better, so that’s what I’ll concentrate on and it’s back to work tomorrow.”

The Argos will look to win their third-straight when they face the Montreal Alouettes on the road next Friday.