‘Nobody can stop us’ — Yelm’s defense brings loads of confidence into 3A state title game

Flashback to a year ago. The Yelm High School Tornados were on offense, looking to come back against Eastside Catholic in the 2022 Class 3A championship game.

Yet it was essentially a defensive play that lifted the Tornados to their first state football title. The Crusaders appeared to have made that play, for a split second having an interception in hand to end any comeback attempt.

Senior Kyler Ronquillo was having none of it, though, turning from receiver to defensive back as he ripped the ball away from the defensive back and raced for the winning touchdown. Ronquillo is gone, but the defensive identity at Yelm has only grown as the Tornados have made their run to repeat as champions.

Just a week ago, against that same Eastside Catholic team, Yelm held the Crusaders to just 19 yards of total offense in a 7-0 state semifinal victory that propelled the Tornados back into the title game at 7 p.m. Friday against Bellevue. The shutout was the first suffered by Eastside Catholic at the hands of a Washington school since the 2011 quarterfinals against, of all teams, Yelm’s opponent on Friday — Bellevue.

The Wolverines may present the most unique defensive challenge Yelm has seen all season. Bellevue runs the full Wing-T, an offense virtually nobody else in 3A or 4A high school football runs.

“I feel like we may have a jump on it,” all-everything linebacker Brayden Platt said. “We played them last year, as well.”

Last year’s contest ended in a 28-27 semifinal victory for Yelm, which enters the state title game riding a 27-game winning streak overall. And they do so with a defensive unit that may be peaking exactly at the right time.

“This defense is something that has been building over the last three or four years, really,” Yelm coach (and defensive coordinator) Jason Ronquillo said. “It think it’s just a mentality. A blue collar mentality. It’s individual athletes making sure they read their key. If they all do that, we can be relatively successful.”

Or more than that, in the Tornados case. Yelm (13-0) has allowed more than 13 points in a game just once all season. The Tornados have held 10 opponents to single digits and have allowed a total of 116 points all season, an average of 8.9 points a game.

The ability to work together and fully understand how each player contributes to the overall plan has elevated this group.

“With today’s football, you can’t be the ‘dumb jock’ anymore,” Ronquillo said. “A lot of it is between the ears. We have a lot of really smart kids that will be contributors not just on the football field but in society.”

The athletes know that, as well.

“Football is 90 percent mental,” senior defensive back Arlo Henderson said. “Once you have that part down, it’s hard to beat.”

Still, it’s about executing what they know when they are on the field.

“We ask a lot of our athletes,” Ronquillo said. “It starts with the coaches putting kids in the right spots. Then the kids understanding and taking extreme ownership in their position. If you can get 11 guys to do that at the same time, we get the defense we are looking for.”

More often than not, especially over the past two seasons, Yelm has gotten just that. To finish the job and defend their title will take another hugely disciplined effort against an offense that distributes the ball to numerous weapons.

And if a big play happens for the Wolverines on Friday night, what will be the response.

“How disciplined can you stay,” Ronquillo suggested, “and not get frustrated with them breaking one off. We’ve got to be able to overcome that and realize, the most important play is the next one.”

If this Yelm defense can do that as its done all season, they’re confident in the result.

“I think we’re a bunch of dawgs,” Henderson said. “Nobody can stop us.”

The reward for such a performance is obvious — a second championship. Accomplishing that goal is something Platt can’t even put into words.

“I don’t even know how to describe the feeling,” Platt said.

Maybe it’s as simple as “success.”