Yelm High School junior wide receiver/defensive back Jacob Ford hadn’t played a game without his older brother, senior running back/linebacker Nathan, in years. Nathan sat out due to a broken clavicle, and Jacob was determined to step up for his team and play for his brother against Kamiakin on Friday, Sept. 20.
Jacob Ford caught 10 passes for 206 yards — both career highs — and two touchdowns to lead the Yelm offense in a 52-48 barnburner victory against the Braves at home. His big day was key for the Tornados in a game that saw 100 combined points and eight lead changes — including four in the second half.
“Not to be cocky, but I’m a playmaker. I’ve been ready for my moment,” Ford said.
For the second straight week, the Tornados offense got off to a sizzling start as they capitalized off of a long Gunner Westbrooks kickoff return and two Kamiakin defensive penalties to move down the field. Quarterback Parker Myers ran for a hard-earned yard to score the game’s first touchdown, but the extra point was missed, giving Yelm a 6-0 lead.
The Braves, led by senior quarterback Trent Woodhouse, countered the Tornados’ opening drive score with one of their own. Woodhouse connected with David Kuku for an 11-yard touchdown strike, and the extra point gave the Braves a 7-6 lead.
Ford ignited the Yelm crowd with a 62-yard touchdown catch from Myers on the first play of the ensuing drive, and the Tornados finished the first quarter in front, 13-7.
The track meet continued into the second quarter as Woodhouse chucked the football deep and found Micheal Kori for an 80-yard touchdown, erasing the noise from the Tornados’ student section and lifting Kamiakin to a 14-13 advantage.
Yelm slowed the game back down with a 16-play, 82-yard drive that was aided by Kamiakin’s back-to-back offsides penalties when the Tornados had a fourth-and-10. Freshman Marcus Ronquillo flattened defenders en route to a 1-yard touchdown to give Yelm back the lead, 20-14.
Ronquillo’s big quarter commenced with a stellar defensive play in which he batted a pass from Woodhouse and intercepted it at the Yelm 26-yard line.
Junior kicker Sterling Temple knocked a 35-yard field goal through the uprights to send the Tornados into halftime with a 23-14 lead.
Kamiakin took a chunk out of the deficit with Woodhouse’s second touchdown pass, and third overall, to Kori from 25 yards out to make it 23-21. After a fourth-down stop by the Braves defense, Woodhouse turned the ball over again as his pass was intercepted by Westbrooks.
But the savvy quarterback eventually got his chance to put his team back in front, as Woodhouse completed a hat trick of touchdowns to Kori to give the Braves a 29-23 lead.
Yelm’s strength offensively on Friday night was its big-play passing attack, especially after taking a blow from the Braves. Myers aired it out to a wide-open Jameson Patin, who strolled into the end zone for a 52-yard score to quickly give Yelm back the lead, 30-29.
“The execution was really good. Our ability to make plays when we needed to make plays was really important, particularly when we were getting punched in the face,” Yelm head coach Jason Ronquillo said of the offense. “Our kids responded correctly.”
Ronquillo would need his offense to respond a few more times throughout the night, as Kuku scored his second receiving touchdown, this one to flip the lead in Kamiakin’s favor, 35-30, eight seconds into the fourth quarter.
The Tornados and Braves traded leads like a game of hot potato in the second half. Just 16 seconds after Kuku’s touchdown, Myers connected with Ford on a screen, and the junior wideout dashed through defenders down the right sideline for a 65-yard score. The go-ahead touchdown made it 38-35 Yelm.
Yelm’s defense forced a three-and-out to finally get off the field, and Myers hurt the Kamiakin defense with his legs once again, scoring from 10 yards out. The Tornados earned their biggest lead at 45-35, but the Braves wouldn’t go out quietly.
Woodhouse’s sixth touchdown pass of the evening went to Mason Severson, who cut the Yelm lead to three with his 12-yard score. Needing a score to put the game on ice, the Tornados, led by Myers and Ford, delivered in the clutch.
The two juniors moved the offense into Braves territory with a pair of chunk plays before the drive stalled at the Kamiakin 20 with Yelm facing a fourth-and-9. Myers took the snap and dashed to the left, breaking through tackles and reaching the first down. Two plays later, he logged his sixth touchdown of the game — third rushing — to give Yelm a 52-42 lead with two minutes and 53 seconds left in the fourth.
“I just knew we had to score to win. I wasn’t gonna leave it up to the defense to win the game,” Myers said. “I knew that I had to make a play to win. We had to be pretty much perfect on offense, and we weren’t perfect, but for the most part, we played really well.”
Despite Woodhouse collecting his seventh touchdown pass of the game, and second to Severson, Yelm held on to win 52-48. The Tornados finished with 486 total yards and surrendered 549 to the Braves. Myers had his best game of his career, completing 17 of 20 pass attempts for 317 yards and three touchdowns while rushing 18 times for 96 yards and another three scores.
“He’s a gamer. We can rely on him, and that’s why he’s in the position that he’s in,” Ronquillo said of the junior signal-caller.
Ford made a bold statement about the Tornados offense after racking up their most points in a game since scoring 60 against Kent-Meridian on Nov. 3, 2023.
“I think we’re the best in the state. I don’t care who we play. We’re gonna win, and we’re gonna dominate,” he said. “Parker is a dog. He’s different. He can run the ball, and he’s not afraid to lay the hit. He’ll hit you as hard as he can, and he can throw it too.”
Yelm’s coaching staff said the team grew up on Friday night with the way it consistently responded to adversity against Kamiakin.
“Kamiakin gave us everything that we needed going into league play. Their passing game is legit. Hats off to those guys for traveling as far as they did and basically giving us a nightmare,” Ronquillo said. “I mean, 90% of the game is mental. If you can learn to overcome adversity and understand that, even though the other teams are going to make plays, you have to be able to respond the next play and compartmentalize every play at a time.”
Yelm (3-0) celebrated the win on a night where the Tornados welcomed back former running back/linebacker and current Oregon Ducks linebacker Brayden Platt, as well as the school band, which made its season debut after a fundraiser fully funded the program following reductions due to budget cuts.
The Tornados will open 4A South Puget Sound League play at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27 against Spanaway Lake (2-0) at Art Crate Field.
