The Yelm High School football team’s defense had a field day against the Olympia Bears as the Tornados recorded five interceptions in a 36-13 win on senior night Thursday, Oct. 24.
Four of the turnovers were forced in the first half as Yelm built a 22-0 halftime lead. The Tornados enjoyed a big day from junior quarterback Parker Myers, who threw for four touchdowns in the win.
“They did fantastic. They were ballhawks tonight. Our front helped them out,” Yelm head coach Jason Ronquillo said of the Tornados secondary. “If you can take care of the front side, on the back end we’re going to be opportunistic, and that’s what our boys were.”
Ronquillo is proud of the growth that the defensive backfield has shown in the last few weeks after a rough outing in the loss to Graham-Kapowsin on Oct. 4.
“We learned a lot from the GK game. We learned a lot about what we need to work on but more about who we are as players, what we’re good at, what we’re not good at, and how we can help our athletes be better and put them in position to be successful,” he said.
Yelm’s defense only needed two plays to get the ball back to the offense as Gunner Westbrooks snagged an interception from Olympia backup quarterback Tucker Downing, setting up the Tornados with the ball at the Bears’ 28.
The connection between Myers and wide receiver Jay Sumich picked up where it left off against Bethel last week as Sumich caught a pass and ran through a defender for a 25-yard score. Tonye Penn, another star from last week’s win, took a direct snap into the end zone for a two-point conversion to make it 8-0 Yelm.
The Tornados picked off Downing for the second time in just seven offensive snaps as Maurice Williams grabbed an interception. Williams finished the drive he started on a nine-yard touchdown catch from Myers in the right corner of the end zone to extend the lead to 15-0.
Olympia finally moved into Yelm territory in the second quarter, but a bad snap that sent the Bears 11 yards behind the line of scrimmage doomed the possession and led to a turnover on downs.
Meanwhile, Yelm’s offense slowed down after scoring on each of its first two possessions. After back-to-back punts, the Tornados swiped their third interception of the night as Luke Brown caught a batted ball deep in Olympia territory.
One play later, Myers found an open Aaron Culler in the corner of the end zone for a 17-yard score that made it 22-0 Yelm.
Looking for any momentum on offense, Olympia reached the Yelm 4-yard line before Williams stepped in front of another Downing pass as the halftime clock reached zero.
“We knew what we had to do, and we just came out here and did it. I know we can still get way better,” Williams said.
The Tornados played the second half without star edge rusher and Boise State commit Bol Bol, who ran to the locker room just before the third quarter began and returned to the sideline in street clothes and a wrap around his left shoulder. Before his night was done, he logged a sack of Downing in the first quarter.
Yelm was energized by the return of senior running back and linebacker Nathan Ford, who has missed the last five games due to a broken right clavicle he suffered against Lincoln in week two. He scored his first touchdown in seven weeks on a seven-yard run that made it 29-0 Tornados.
“It felt amazing. It felt like a different game, like I was knocking all the rust off and getting back in the groove,” Ford said. “It was my goal the whole game to get back in the end zone and get that momentum going one more time.”
Senior offensive tackle Jacob Tracy loved seeing Ford back on the field, especially in time for senior night.
“He’s the heart and soul of our team. He’s one of our four team captains. It was beautiful seeing him back and seeing him score,” he said. “It was the best.”
It looked like Olympia had a 55-yard touchdown on a double pass on the first play of its ensuing drive to cut into the large deficit, but the Bears were called for an illegal forward pass. The Bears settled for a one-yard touchdown run by Downing to put them on the board with over three minutes left in the third.
Penn picked off a Downing pass on the Bears’ first drive of the fourth quarter to give Yelm its fifth interception of the evening. On the very next play, Myers connected on a deep shot to Jacob Ford, who tiptoed along the sideline for an 80-yard touchdown to make it 36-7. Olympia scored once more on a six-yard touchdown from Downing to Harper Hejtmanek, but the Tornados already had victory in their sights at that point.
Myers finished the game with four touchdown passes and 239 yards on 13 of 22 pass attempts, marking his fifth contest with at least three touchdown passes without an interception. In his return, Nathan Ford recorded 48 yards and a score on seven carries, and his brother, Jacob, logged 99 yards and a touchdown on three receptions.
Ronquillo said his team played a complete game on all three levels, but he admitted that the Tornados, who were called for 13 penalties in the win, still have plenty of things to clean up.
“I thought that all three phases played really, really well. Obviously, we’ve got to make sure that we stay disciplined,” he said. “A lot of the penalties are made through over-effort. Kids are working hard. They’re just holding on a little too long. They’re grabbing because they think they’re beat.”
Yelm (7-1, 4-1 South Puget Sound League) awaits its opponent for its 4A SPSL north division crossover game next week as it will face either Puyallup (3-4, 2-2 SPSL) or Emerald Ridge (5-3, 4-1 SPSL) on Friday, Nov. 1. The Tornados would visit Emerald Ridge at 7 p.m. if Bethel wins the three-way tiebreaker between the Bison, Olympia and Spanaway Lake on Tuesday, Oct. 29. If Bethel loses, the Tornados would visit Puyallup at 4 p.m.