Yelm’s Patterson and Platt, Mount Tahoma’s Thorpe-Taylor Big Ten bound
Isaiah Patterson didn’t have a perfect childhood. He was mostly raised by his grandfather in southwest Washington, until his grandfather got older and decided to move to the warmer temperatures of Florida.
So Patterson, then a high school sophomore, packed his bags and moved to his grandmother’s house on the outskirts of Yelm. His mom, who now lives in Tacoma, was unable to take care of him full time, due to what Patterson described to The News Tribune as “personal issues.”
“She has my little brother to take care of and I was already 15 years old and I already knew I was going to go to college and was going to be able to get there, so I just wanted her to have the focus on my little brother and be able to take care of herself and get back on her feet,” he said.
While his upbringing has been challenging, Patterson found a football family at Yelm, when transferred his junior season.
“We opened our arms,” said Yelm coach Jason Ronquillo. “We want to be open, loving and caring. That’s part of our mission statement, being loving and caring and appreciative of everyone that’s in here. Everyone’s different but everyone has the same amount of value.”
And Patterson’s inner-belief that he’d play big-time college football one day officially came to fruition on Wednesday, when he signed his National Letter of Intent to play football at UCLA during the first day of the NCAA’s early signing period.
Decked out in blue and gold in Yelm’s gymnasium Wednesday morning, Patterson sat next to teammate and close friend Brayden Platt, who signed with the Oregon Ducks. Two of the state’s top linebackers, Patterson and Platt led the Tornados to the 2022 Class 3A state championship and a runner-up state tournament finish this fall.
In the recruiting world, they’ve gone through similar journeys, coveted by Power Five programs across the country.
“I feel like we’re in very similar positions, at least with football and recruiting wise,” Platt said. “Our mindsets are the same. It’s easy to connect with someone who’s driven the same way and wants to do the same things you want to do. That has definitely helped a lot.”
In the process, they’ve become good friends. They push each other, bring out the best in each other and yes, occasionally get on each other’s nerves. They work out together most days and they’re equally competitive.
“You can ask our trainer, he says we’re like an old married couple, just constantly bickering,” Patterson said, laughing.
Patterson found what he feels is the right fit in Chip Kelly’s UCLA program, particularly with Bruins’ linebacker coach Ken Norton Jr., formerly the Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator.
“For development, coach Norton is probably one of the best developers in the country and I think his resume speaks to that,” Patterson said. “I think he’s going to get me to where I need to go. … I’ve gotta make my mark in college first, but the goal for me has always been to go to the NFL. That was the reason I picked UCLA.”
Both Patterson and Platt will enroll early at their schools this spring. Platt will be diving in head first, hoping to throw for the Ducks’ track team in addition to playing spring football, all before his freshman season.
“It’s a big step,” he said. “As long as I can manage my time wisely, I should be good. You get 24 hours in a day. As long as I spend them correctly, I should be good.”
Platt’s dream is to both play in the NFL and throw in the Olympics. At Oregon, with the football program moving to the Big Ten and the track program’s reputation at famed Hayward Field, he feels he’ll get the best of both worlds.
“That was definitely important for me, especially going (to Hayward Field) so many times for the national events or the national championships,” Platt said.
Platt’s season ended in controversy this fall, when he threw a punch in the first quarter of the state championship game against Bellevue at Husky Stadium and was ejected from the contest. Bellevue went on to win the game and shut out the Tornados’ offense.
“I wish I could’ve gone back and done it differently, obviously,” Platt said. “I think I just got a little caught up in the heat of the moment.”
Platt said he had shoved players off of him in a similar manner throughout the season, but catching the Bellevue player’s helmet gave the appearance that he punched the opposing player.
“I did it other times in the year, cause my hand was open and I was trying to push him away, but it went too far up and it hit his helmet,” he said.
While it wasn’t the fairy tale ending Platt or his teammates were hoping for, it was still consecutive trips to the state title game, and a year earlier, Platt helped deliver the program’s first title. Ronquillo considers himself fortunate to coach two players of Patterson and Platt’s caliber at the same time.
“You get these athletes either once a decade or once a career — particularly at the same time — very blessed,” he said.
Thorpe-Taylor to UCLA
Just four years ago, Marquise Thorpe-Taylor had little desire to ever set foot in the halls at Mount Tahoma High School as a student. And really, for a football player with aspirations to play at the next level, in a school district that boasts open enrollment, he didn’t need to.
His mother, Maria, is a graduate of the school, making Thorpe-Taylor a second-generation Thunderbird.
“Summer before his ninth-grade year, Marquise will tell you, he did not want to go to Mount Tahoma High School,” T-Birds athletic director Ronda Stinson announced at a Signing Day celebration in the school’s auditorium on Wednesday evening. “After pleading and talking about a legacy you can live at Mount Tahoma, and you can leave for others to follow, and helping rebuild a program, Marquise has done that.”
The season before Thorpe-Taylor got on campus, Mount Tahoma went 1-9. This fall, the T-Birds went 8-4, broke a four-decade playoff drought and advanced to the 3A quarterfinals.
And on Wednesday, Thorpe-Taylor realized his dream by signing a letter of intent to play football for the UCLA Bruins. He’s actually the second lineman in four years to go Division I following Oregon State junior Taliese Fuaga, who could be a first-round NFL selection in the spring.
“Me and him have talked a few times just about improvement, going to college and going through recruiting,” Thorpe-Taylor said. “He’s definitely helped me out with some things and with tips. More just outside of football. I respect his journey and all. But I want to do my own thing, too.”
Part of that “own” thing was making a decision early and in an era where commits flip constantly, sticking with that decision to play for Chip Kelly in Westwood.
“The culture, the coaches, the players and the environment was just something I thought I could be a part of,” Thorpe-Taylor said of UCLA. “It was nice going into my senior year, knowing that I was committed, I could go out and just play. Enjoy my senior season. With my teammates that I’ve been playing with multiple years.”
In short, leaving another T-Bird legacy.
This story was originally published December 20, 2023 at 1:58 PM.
