Since the turn of the decade, the Yelm High School football team has been synonymous with the word “dominant.” The Tornados were 46-2 and had won 26 straight games against conference opponents dating back to the shortened 2020 season.
But against Graham-Kapowsin at home on Friday, Oct. 4, the Tornados experienced the type of beating they’ve handed to the vast majority of teams in the past four years. The Eagles thrashed Yelm, 57-36, to snap the Tornados’ 37-game regular season winning streak and 28-game win streak against conference opponents.
The loss was Yelm’s first in the regular season, and to a conference foe, since losing to Peninsula on Oct. 18, 2019. It was also the first home loss in the regular season since Sept. 6, 2019 against Skyview.
Yelm entered the game against Graham-Kapowsin having scored a touchdown on its opening drive in three straight games. But after the Tornados’ opening drive against the Eagles started at their own 35, they didn’t move a yard, and a fake punt on fourth-and-10 gave the Eagles a golden opportunity to strike first. And they did.
A 1-yard touchdown run by Gavin Deaton put the Eagles up 7-0. On the ensuing kickoff, Graham-Kapowsin opted not to kick deep to dangerous returner Jacob Ford and instead kicked right at a Tornado and recovered the ball at the Eagles’ 45-yard line. The drive would end in a punt, however.
A big return by Ford set up the Tornados deep in Eagles territory, and junior quarterback Parker Myers flung a pass to a tightly-covered Jameson Patin, who made the grab and helped tie the game at 7-7.
The end of the first quarter brought a fireworks show for both fan bases as Graham-Kapowsin freshman quarterback AJ Tuivaiave heaved a deep ball to Kase Betz, and while Jay Sumich dove to tap the ball, it fell into Betz’ arms for a 70-yard score. In a nanosecond, Ford responded with a 99-yard kickoff return touchdown, and Myers’ 2-point conversion gave Yelm its first lead at 15-14 at the end of the first quarter.
The lead was short-lived for Yelm. Graham-Kapowsin continued to dice up the Tornados’ defense en route to a 40-yard touchdown pass from Tuivaiave to Khristian Norris. Following another Yelm punt, Tuivaiave torched the Tornados again with a 62-yard bomb to Mazaia Roberson to take a 29-15 advantage, giving Yelm its largest deficit of the young season.
With Yelm looking for an answer offensively, freshman running back Marcus Ronquillo fumbled on the opening play of the next drive, but Graham-Kapowsin couldn’t capitalize thanks to a missed field goal.
The Eagles would eventually add to their lead with 15 seconds left until halftime with another Tuivaiave-to-Roberson touchdown connection, this time from 35 yards out, to give Graham-Kapowsin a 35-15 halftime lead.
Yelm’s second-quarter possessions resulted in: turnover on downs, fumble, punt, and end of half.
“It’s an emotional game. When I talked to them at halftime, I said, ‘Sometimes, when you get too high, you’ve got to understand that there’s a low that comes with that, and sometimes, you’ve got to be stoic in times and situations where we needed to be stoic,’” head coach Jason Ronquillo said. “I think our emotions got the best of us, and we just didn’t play good football.”
The onslaught continued in the third quarter as Tuivaiave threw two more touchdown passes, including an 83-yarder to Betz that ignited a chant of “This is our house” from the Graham-Kapowsin crowd.
Myers recorded three of his four touchdown passes in the second half, including two more to Patin, but the damage from the Eagles was insurmountable, and Graham-Kapowsin prevailed, 57-36. The Eagles outgained the Tornados on offense 535 to 254, with Tuivaiave finishing with 418 yards and seven touchdown passes on 21-of-27 passing.
“It’s tough losing when you don’t lose very often. We’re just not used to that feeling, and that feeling hurts. We have to be able to learn from that,” Ronquillo said. “The loss is on me and our staff. Our team is young, so we’ve got to figure out how to get them mentally ready to play big games. We know where our holes are on our team, and we understand we’re young, but that’s no excuse. We’ve just got to play better football.”
Ronquillo added that he and the staff want the young players who are new to losing to feel the sting from this defeat, but he doesn’t want them to get used to the feeling. He wants the team to learn from the mistakes that he said “should never be made” and put the game in the rearview.
“We don’t want to point fingers. If we’re pointing fingers, it’s at ourselves,” Ronquillo said. “I told the team, ‘If you’re going to remember anything of what I say, just remember that it’s on me, and you have to be able to say that to yourself if you want to get better. If you’re going to point the finger at anybody else, you’re not going to grow. We have to have a growth mindset.”
The Tornados (4-1, 1-1 South Puget Sound League) will have a chance to rebound against Bonney Lake (0-5, 0-2 SPSL) at home on Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m.
