Yelm digs top billing, but would trade it all for big trophy in December

YELM, Wash. - Mention the No. 1 ranking to Yelm football coach Jason Ronquillo and he smiles nervously.

He embraces it - and he wishes it would go away all at the same time.

"I don't like to carry that title," he said. "I love that we are getting recognized for that, but we have to earn it in December, and that is what we've set out to do."

As far as mid-October, nobody in the state of Washington is playing better than these newcomers to the top perch.

The Tornados turned away a late first-half challenge from 3A SSC rival Timberline before posting a 56-14 victory Thursday night.

Seven different players scored touchdowns for Yelm, but the standout of the night was senior William Carreto, who rushed for 204 yards and a pair of those scores.

And on a squad full of NCAA Division I-recruited or bigger-named teenagers, Carreto quietly goes about his business.

"He is a warrior, man," Ronquillo said. "He's completely underrated. We've got so many stars on the team ... that he gets overlooked sometimes. But he'd be a first-team running back on any other team."

And yet, after Brayden Platt's 2-yard touchdown run on fourth down gave the Tornados a 30-0 lead with 7:54 remaining in the first half, everything seemed to be operating too seamlessly.

But not so fast.

In the span of 55 seconds to close out the half, Jerrell Larkins hauled in two acrobatic touchdown passes for Timberline, which sliced the lead to 30-14.

And after Ahmad Ragland's long kickoff return to star the second half quickly had the Blazers in the red zone, suddenly there was a little nervousness going on in the packed home grandstands.

Kyler Ronquillo changed all of that.

He picked off a pass for the Tornados in the end zone to end the scoring threat, which set up a Yelm touchdown.

And a few minutes, his long punt return set up his own 11-yard touchdown catch, and the Tornados' lead grew to 42-14 at the 5:13 mark of the third quarter.

"The defense responded and shut them down," Jason Ronquillo said.

And now, key 3A SSC games at Peninsula and Gig Harbor loom to close out the regular season.

"We definitely care (about being No. 1)," Platt said. "But all of us had the mentality of an underdog growing up ... so we still carry that."