Wet ball stalls Yelm’s offense, but Tornados’ defense stifles Mead, 37-21

Opening round playoff jitters, combined with bursts of rain and hard cross winds got second-ranked Yelm High School off to a shaky start in its 3A round of 32 playoff game Saturday afternoon.

But the Tornados’ defense was dialed in, holding visiting Mead to just 53 total yards and one offensive touchdown. When its offense settled in, Yelm (9-0) pulled away for a 37-21 victory, its 15th in a row going back to 2019.

The Tornados will almost certainly host a first-round game in the state tournament next week.

“Our defense was playing lights out,” said Yelm coach Jason Ronquillo. “Offensively, we just weren’t clicking at the start. Our ball security was shaky. We didn’t take care of the football like we normally do.”

Ronquillo pointed to the weather as another factor.

“It kind of limited the things we could do. Our ball handling was a little off,” he said.

Yelm turned the ball over five times, twice for Panther scores, allowing Mead (3-6) to grab a 14-12 third quarter lead despite two 27-yard first half sweeps for touchdowns by Tornados’ sophomore running back Brayden Platt.

First, with Yelm leading, 6-0, a Palaina Hooper pass intended for Nathan Paul was tipped into the hands of Panther defensive back Nolan Braun, who ran 45 yards untouched for a pick six that gave Mead its first lead, 7-6.

Later, after Platt’s second scoring run had given the Tornados a 12-7 halftime edge, he fumbled an out-of-synch handoff from Hooper near his own goal line. Sophomore Madden Raab scooped it up and dived forward into the end zone for a 14-12 Mead lead.

“Those two defensive scores were huge momentum changers for them,” Ronquillo said.

With the specter of an upset loss looming as bleak as the weather, Yelm’s defense made the play that put the Tornados ahead to stay. With a minute and 30 seconds left in the third quarter, linebacker William Carreto looked a Colby Danielson pass right into his arms and sprinted 41 yards to make it 20-14.

“I read the run and tried to hook the curl. He threw it right to me,” Carretto said. “Ray Wright made a great block on the return.”

Yelm extended its lead to as much as 35-14, as Wright, dangerous all season on sweeps, went outside to the right and in from 20 yards out and Carretto barreled up the middle for a five-yard scoring run.

Wright rushed for 60 yards on 10 carries, while Carreto had 58 yards on 11 carries. Platt, though, made the biggest splash. A week ago, nursing a sore ankle, he carried only twice, for negative yardage.

Saturday, he carried 21 times for 194 yards and those two touchdowns.

“We weren’t sure how much we were going to be able to use Brayden today,” said Ronquillo. “At this point in the season, staying healthy is important.”

Against North Thurston three weeks ago, Platt took a hard hit from a Rams tackler.

“I’ve been rehabbing every day since with the trainers,” he said.

Platt has gotten much of his yardage up the middle, but Saturday found his way to the outside to run around and over tacklers.

“The coaches were telling me to look outside and I got some great seal blocks,” he said.

Mead ran just four plays for positive yardage in the fourth quarter. One was a sharp eight-yard touchdown pass from Danielson to Colby Price on a delayed route out of the backfield that gave the Panthers their only offensive touchdown and an outside chance to come back, down 35-21 with four and a half minutes to play.

But Mead couldn’t recover their onside kick and, ultimately, the final scoring play was a safety by Yelm when Danielson was forced to fall on his own fumble in the end zone.

Though Hooper, who had thrown only two interceptions in the Tornados’ previous eight games, was picked off twice Saturday, he finished 18-of-27 for 195 yards as Yelm rolled up 495 total yards.

“Mead had a great defensive plan for us. We were well-scouted by them,” Ronquillo said. “A lot of it comes down to rhythm. We’ve got to do a job of allowing Palaina to get rhythmic. We need to do small things earlier and get bigger later, rather than take the top off too early.”

Mead was literally hurt offensively on its second play of the game. Danielson tossed a screen pass to junior running back Schuyler Harkness, but the ball arrived simultaneously with Yelm tackler Marius Aalona. Harkness left the game with a rib injury and didn’t return.

Despite trailing late in the third quarter, Carretto said the Tornados never got down.

“There was no worry. We always come back,” he said.