3 takeaways from Graham-Kapowsin vs. Yelm: Ninth grader AJ Tuivaiave has officially arrived

In his fifth career start, Tuivaiave passes for 435 yards and a school-record seven touchdowns in Eagles' 57-36 road victory

Ninth grader A.J. Tuivaiave passed for a career-high 435 yards and seven touchdown in Graham-Kapowsin's win over Yelm. / Photo by Todd Milles

YELM, Wash. - In a new realigning matchup of former WIAA football champions, Graham-Kapowsin High School drew first blood Friday night.

The 2021 Class 4A champions welcomed host Yelm - the 2022 3A titleholder - into their league (4A SPSL) with a complete-effort 57-36 victory in front of a packed house.

The star of the show? It is somebody who might be putting up performances like these for a while.

A.J Tuivaiave, who was making his fifth career starter as a ninth grader at quarterback for the Eagles, passed for 435 yards and a school-record seven touchdowns. He had 273 yards of it in a big first half to stake his team out to a big lead.

Here are three takeaways from the Graham-Kapowsin-Yelm game:

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Yelm has a quarterback who can make plays with his legs in 2024 with Parker Myers. / Photo by Todd Milles

HE IS STILL ONLY 14

The finding-his-voice kid in Tuivaiave comes out when he speaks. He smiles a lot. His thoughts are short. He is just having a blast at age 14.

But then you watch him carve up the route tree - lofty deep passes mixed in in side-arm whizzers - and you realize he is well-schooled beyond his years.

Tuivaiave is the latest standout under center for Jeff Logan, who has been on staff for UW-bound Dylan Morris, Fresno State-bound Joshua Woods and Montana State-bound Daveon Superales.

"A.J. has enough arm," Logan said, "to do all of that."

Tuivaiave started out just 3-for-6 before connecting with Kase Betz on a 69-yard touchdown at the end of the first quarter.

He put on a clinic, completing 20 of 26 passes (and 17 of his final 20 attempts, including just one incompletion in the second half). And five of his seven touchdowns were on passes of 35 yards or longer, including an 82-yarder to Betz late in the third quarter to give the Eagles a 50-22 lead.

"Man, it was really great," said Tuivaiave, who turned 15 on Oct. 17. "When you build team chemistry up, it is really fun."

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SIGNATURE DRIVE AT END OF FIRST HALF

As terrific as Tuivaiave was, perhaps the most promising development for the Eagles was the emergence of sophomore running back Blake Pearson.

He rushed for 127 yards on 26 carries Friday as the Eagles won the much-anticipated matchup at the line of scrimmage.

And his 25-yard scamper with a thunderous stiff-arm was the key play as the Eagles marched 86 yards in the final 1:51 to seize control of this game. It ended with Tuivaiave's 35-yard touchdown pass to Mazaia Roberson with 17.5 seconds remaining for a 35-15 Graham-Kapowsin lead.

"After (we lost Julian DelosSantos to knee injury), we were really grasping at straws at like, 'Who is going to take the job?'" Logan said. "And you can probably tell Blake Pearson is the kid who took it tonight."

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YELM BURNED IN SECONDARY

The thing about joining Class 4A in the new reclassification cycle - there are more capable passing offense in the WIAA's largest classification than in run-oriented Class 3A.

Yelm is tough. It never shies away from a good fight. But after Friday, it is plainly obvious the Tornados need to shore up their pass defense.

Even with NCAA D1 prospect Maurice Williams back in the fold, Yelm's secondary was constantly beaten by the big play. Some of them came on contested catches by Eagles' wide receivers. Others were just too easy.

"Our plan was to get to the quarterback (Tuivaiave), and we had a hard time doing that in a timely fashion," Yelm coach Jason Ronquillo said. "We gave them a half-second too long, and when you give a good quarterback time like that ... he is going to make plays."

Encouraging was the second-half effort of Parker Myers (13-of-22, 212 yards, four TDs) as the offense waits on the return of workhorse running back Nathan Ford (collarbone), who should be back at the end of the regular season.

But this defense needs to tighten things up.

"We are a very young team, and our youth showed tonight," Ronquillo sWe made some mistakes that should never be made.

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