TORONTO — Brandon Bridge made the most of his first opportunity with the Toronto Argonauts.

The native of Mississauga, Ont., completed 9-of-12 passes for a game-high 142 yards and two TDs to help Toronto dispatch the Montreal Alouettes 45-20 Thursday afternoon in the CFL exhibition opener for both teams. The six-foot-five, 235-pound Bridge signed as a free agent with the Argos after two seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Bridge highlighted an impressive offensive showing for Toronto, which accumulated 510 net yards and finished with five TD passes. Veteran CFL coach Jacques Chapdelaine is in his first season as the club's offensive co-ordinator.

"In this offence there's a lot more freedom, there's a lot more if you see a guy open you can take it," Bridge said. "I feel like we havethe defence gives us and the guys took advantage of that."

Bridge said it was no accident multiple Argos quarterbacks succeeded Thursday.

"Coach Chapdelaine takes opinions, he asks us what kind of plays we're comfortable with and that's how he calls the game," Bridge said. "I feel that's why every quarterback was successful because he at least had a list of plays that quarterbacks liked and he called it according to that."

Bethel-Thompson helped stake Toronto to a commanding 20-0 first-quarter lead. The contest, which began at 11 a.m. ET, was held at Varsity Stadium before 4,314 spectators, most being GTA school children who wildly waved the promotional blue towels they'd received.

The Argos called Varsity Stadium home from 1916 to 1958 and the venue has hosted 30 Grey Cup games.

"It was