The Yelm High School football team’s season-opening contest against Mount Tahoma Thursday, Sept. 5, was comparable to the last several weeks in the Yelm education sphere. It began with anxiety, frustration, and some anger, but it concluded with joy, smiles, and lessons to learn.
After weeks of educator negotiations and budget cuts, the Yelm community came out in droves to support the Tornados in their first contest as a 4A program, in which they rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to stun the Thunderbirds, 42-34.
The Thunderbirds, whose 2023 season came to an end at the hands of the Tornados in the 3A state quarterfinals, grabbed early momentum thanks to a fumble by Yelm all-purpose back Gunner Westbrooks deep in Mount Tahoma territory. A 69-yard touchdown pass put the T-Birds on the scoreboard first, 7-0.
Yelm’s offense couldn’t answer as quarterback Parker Myers led the Tornados to the brink of T-Birds territory but suffered a 12-yard sack that doomed the possession and forced a punt. Another long touchdown pass by Mount Tahoma gave the T-Birds a 14-0 advantage less than three minutes into the second quarter.
Myers responded with a big play of his own, taking a carry 58 yards to the house to slice the Mount Tahoma lead in half and give the Tornados their first points of the season.
With the home crowd at full throat, the T-Birds shushed the Yelm faithful just over a minute later thanks to a strong kickoff return inside Yelm territory and a 44-yard pass to set the road team up inside the 10. Mount Tahoma finished the drive with a rushing score to make it 21-7 with 5:48 remaining until halftime.
Yelm had two opportunities on offense to draw closer before halftime but could not score on either drive. Head coach Jason Ronquillo said the Tornados’ inexperience made the difference in the first half.
“I think it came down to our youth. We’re really young in some spots and we’re learning, and Mount Tahoma did a really good job of executing in the first half and taking advantage of some of our weaknesses,” Ronquillo said.
Nathan Ford, senior running back and linebacker, said the Tornados were in a “daze” at halftime, but Ronquillo got them back into the right mindset with an animated speech.
“I can’t remember what [Ronquillo] said, but it got the team hyped and locked in,” he said. “We were hitting tables a little bit and getting excited, and we came out here with the drive to win.”
The Tornados came out of the locker room with a fire lit underneath them, as they took the opening possession of the second half into the end zone with a 52-yard run by Ford to make it 21-14. The buzz from the crowd after Ford’s touchdown hadn’t even died down when Yelm recovered the kickoff that brushed a T-Bird and set the Tornados up at the Mount Tahoma 24-yard line.
Jacob Ford punched it into the end zone to knot the score at 21 apiece and send the Yelm student section, nicknamed the “Tornado Bunker,” into a frenzy.
“It was huge. You always feel like you’re gonna make a comeback. You always feel like you’re never out of it, and that’s what I keep telling the guys,” Ronquillo said of the Tornados’ early third quarter blitz to tie the game.
The Tornados defense improved from its first-half woes, forcing a three-and-out on the T-Birds’ first possession of the third quarter. Luke Brown returned the punt inside Mount Tahoma territory, and after a 37-yard run by Nathan Ford, Myers beat the T-Birds’ defense to the end zone with his legs for the second time, giving Yelm its first lead at 27-21 with 5:16 left in the third.
Mount Tahoma moved the chains for the first time in the second half on the first play of its second possession, but the T-Birds could not answer and punted again.
Jacob Ford pushed the Tornados’ lead to 14 after a dazzling 43-yard touchdown catch from Timberline transfer quarterback Synjae Colston in which Ford ran from one side of the field to the other to find paydirt.
After the T-Birds turned the ball over on downs, Yelm freshman running back Marcus Ronquillo put the dagger in Mount Tahoma’s heart with a 2-yard touchdown run to make it 42-21. The Tornados finished with 380 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
Despite two late T-Birds touchdowns in the final five minutes, the Tornados prevailed, 42-34, to improve to 1-0 on the season and hand Mount Tahoma its second straight loss at the Yelm stadium.
Nathan Ford finished the night with 157 rushing yards and a score on 12 carries along with two tackles and a sack on defense, while his brother, Jacob, totaled 82 yards and two touchdowns on nine touches. Myers rushed for 103 yards and two scores on nine carries and completed eight of 10 passes for 48 yards.
Nathan Ford said that the team embraced the opportunity to compete after lengthy negotiations between Yelm Community Schools and the Yelm Education Association completed Monday, Sept. 2, delaying the first day of school one day. If talks had continued into the week, the first day of school and the season-opening football game may have been postponed further. The Tornados coaching staff wore shirts with messages supporting Yelm educators such as “Educators Rock” and “YEA Stronger Together.”
“It felt amazing, especially with all the drama that was going on. It was a relief to be out on our own field again and to be able to play the sport we all love,” Ford said. “With this being my senior year, I was struggling with the thought that I might not be able to play this season. I think it meant a lot to this community because we are a football town.”
Ronquillo said one of the big keys for the Tornados’ victory was the team sticking with the game plan despite the early deficit and playing with discipline. But in the big picture, he wanted the program to rally around the educators and put on a show for the community.
“We all came together for this, and I wanted to make sure that we represented our teachers union and all the work that we’ve put in to get to this point,” he said. “Had the teachers still been in negotiations, we wouldn’t have played this game. We wanted to make sure that we did it for our teachers union.”
The Tornados will head to Lincoln High School to face the Abes Friday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. before returning home Friday, Sept. 20 when Kamiakin comes to town.
Statistics are subject to change.
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