Sneads fourth-quarter touchdown rallies Alouettes past Argonauts 21-19

TORONTO — It was a tale of two halves for McLeod Bethel-Thompson.

After throwing three first-half interceptions, Bethel-Thompson’s five-yard TD pass to Tyler Snead in the fourth quarter rallied the Montreal Alouettes past the Toronto Argonauts 21-19 on Friday night.

Bethel-Thompson found Snead at 5:28 to cap a seven-play, 89-yard march, then hit Austin Mack for the two-point convert to put Montreal ahead 18-9.

Bethel-Thompson had a roller-coaster contest _ looking very good on some passes, not so much on others _ hitting 18-of-30 attempts for 228 yards with two TDs and the three picks. But in the second half, he completed eight-of-13 passes for 118 yards and the touchdown.

Last week, Bethel-Thompson returned from the injured list as Montreal upset the Saskatchewan Roughriders 48-31. The 37-year-old quarterback completed 20 of 26 passes for 379 yards and three TDs.

“To be honest it was a lot on me,” Bethel-Thompson said of his differing performances. “I say that often but my footwork wasn’t good in the first half, the ball was a little too tacky, I was pulling things out of bounds.

“I missed (Charleston) Rambo on a ball that would’ve been a touchdown early, I underthrew Snead on a pick right before halftime. I just wasn’t really focused and dialed in … but that’s what this team is, it’s a good team that keeps fighting, for sure.”

Jarret Doege’s six-yard touchdown pass to Jake Herslow at 9:54 pulled Toronto to within 18-16. Kicker Lirim Hajrullahu made a heads-up attempt at the onside kick that Argo Jon Edouard appeared to touch before Montreal’s Joshua Archibald knocked the ball out of bounds.

That allowed Jose Maltos Diaz to make a 33-yard field goal at 12:24 and put Montreal ahead 21-16. Toronto made it a two-point game with Hajrullahu’s 28-yard field goal at 13:26, just three plays after Makai Polk’s clutch seven-yard catch on third-and-four.

Toronto’s final possession began at Montreal’s 45-yard line with 51 seconds left. But Wesley Sutton ended the comeback bid by intercepting Doege with 15 seconds remaining.

Montreal (7-7) erased a 9-7 halftime deficit to move four points ahead of third-place Toronto (5-9) in the East Division. The Alouettes also swept the three-game season series with the Argos for the first time since 2011.

“At this time of year, all of the wins are big,” said Montreal head coach Jason Maas. “For us, what we’ve gone through in August to get into September and win a couple of games in a row, it’s feeling pretty good.

“It doesn’t matter (if a win is ugly) at this time of year, in fact all year it doesn’t matter how you win just that you win. You’ve got to learn from them and move on quickly.”

A quality Maas said Bethel-Thompson possesses.

“The first half wasn’t what we wanted from it,” he said. “But ultimately he kept grinding and fighting and our guys did the same around him.

“I think he’s done a good job since he’s been back with us after the injury of just letting everything happen, go on to the next play and keep believing, keep fighting. He did a tremendous job of that in leading us tonight.”

Toronto suffered its first loss in four games before an announced BMO Field gathering of 13,848. After coming off the bench to lead the Argos past Edmonton 31-30 last week, Doege was 25-of-37 passing for 207 yards with a TD and an interception in his first start with the club and second in the CFL.

“I just told the guys ‘Great fight, we’re not dead yet,'” Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said. “We’re down, that was a tough loss.

“But at the same time I think it kind of bonded us together a little bit. We’ve got four games, we’ve probably got to win all four.”

Rambo scored Montreal’s other touchdown. Maltos Diaz had two field goals and a convert.

Hajrullahu had four field goals and a convert for Toronto.

Maltos Diaz’s 12-yard field goal at 13:11 of the third put Montreal up 10-9. It was a stunning end to the nine-play, 65-yard drive as Montreal kept short-yardage quarterback Shea Patterson in after his eight-yard run put the Als at Toronto’s three-yard line.

Patterson bobbled the snap on the next play and couldn’t hit an open Tyson Philpot in the end zone. Then Stevie Scott III lost a yard on a rushing play, forcing the field goal.

Hajrullahu’s 37-yard boot to end the second quarter staked Toronto to a 9-7 halftime lead. It followed Derek Slywka’s 37-yard interception return.

Bethel-Thompson put Montreal ahead 7-6 with an 18-yard TD pass to Rambo at 11:44 of the second.

Hajrullahu opened the scoring with a 25-yard field goal at 8:42. He added a 31-yard kick at 10:58 following a Wynton McManis interception. McManis got the ball after defensive lineman Anthony Lanier deflected Bethel-Thompson’s pass.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2025.

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press