WIAA 3A football state championship: Yelm beats Eastside Catholic, 20-13

Kyler Ronquillo's strip and 28-yard return for a touchdown with less than a minute to go wins it for the Tornados in their first WIAA title game appearance

PUYALLUP, Wash. - Kyler Ronquillo has made big plays all season for the Yelm football team.

But there hasn’t been a bigger one than the one he made to give the Tornados the school’s first state title in football.

Ronquillo’s heads-up strip and 28-yard run after his quarterback Damien Aalona’s deep pass was intercepted by Eastside Catholic’s Tyson Weaver provided the winning score in a thrilling 20-13 win over the Crusaders in the Class 3A championship game Saturday afternoon at Sparks Stadium.

Ronquillo’s strip-and-score at the Eastside Catholic 28-yard line came with 52 seconds to go in the contest and gave Yelm an 18-13 lead. William Carreto’s two-point conversion pass to Onyx Carter made the final margin.

Top-seeded Yelm finished the season 14-0. Second-seeded Eastside Catholic ended up 12-1 and was denied the school’s fifth state crown.

The Crusaders took a 13-12 lead with 7:18 remaining in the game. That came when senior quarterback Brady McKelheer found his sophomore brother, Carson, for a 47-yard screen pass touchdown.

EC had one last chance to tie or when the game, taking over on its own 7-yard line with 40 seconds left in the game. But the drive and push for a fifth state title ended with McKelheer’s desperation pass being picked off at the Eastside Catholic 43-yard line by Yelm’s Brayden Platt with eight seconds showing. The Tornados took a knee on the next play from scrimmage and that ran out the clock.

Yelm took a 12-6 lead on a trick pass play late in the third quarter. The big play came when running back Brayden Platt took the handoff and pitched back to quarterback Damien Aalona, who fired deep to Tre Smith for a 55-yard touchdown pass play with 2:16 to goin the third quarter.

Adam Jacobs put the Crusaders on the board first at 3-0 by booting a 35-yard field goal straight through the uprights with nine seconds showing on the clock in the first quarter.

Yelm took a 6-3 lead on Aden Schaler’s 22-yard pass in the right corner of the end zone on a pass from Aalona with 11 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The Tornados' pass conversion attempt failed.

The Tornados threatened to score on the prior possession but Eastside Catholic’s Bryson Ross batted down an Aalona pass to the end zone intended for Tre Smith with 6:07 to go before halftime.

The Crusaders tied the game at 6-6 on Jacobs’ second field goal of the game, this time a 26-yarder, with 2:50 to go in the third quarter. EC’s scoring drive was helped by two Yelm pass interference penalties and a 44-yard pass from Brady McKelheer to Jayden Reyes.