Just four short years ago, the Yelm Tornados football program wasn’t just part of Class 3A’s upper echelon.
It was the upper echelon.
Yelm stunned the national high school football scene back in 2022 when Kyler Ronquillo ripped an interception away from an Eastside Catholic defender’s hands and ran in the viral state championship-winning touchdown at Sparks Stadium. The Tornados returned to the state championship game the following December and were shut out by Bellevue 14-0 in their final game as a Class 3A program before moving up to Class 4A.
In Yelm’s last three seasons in Class 3A from 2021 to 2023, the Tornados lost a total of two games. Since Yelm jumped up to Class 4A in 2024, the program has had three head coaches in a three-year span.
Jason Ronquillo, who led the Tornados to their back-to-back state title game trips, departed after the 2024 season, one that saw Yelm bounced out of the Class 4A playoffs in the Round of 32 by Richland to finish a 7-3 campaign.
Rex Norris entered in 2025 from a two-year stint at Eatonville, but the Tornados couldn’t keep up in the South Puget Sound League gauntlet and finished 3-6.
Now, in steps Tutu Tamaalevea, a decorated semi-professional football coach who won a handful of championships with the Puyallup Kings and the Grit City Knights. This is his first head coaching gig at the high school level, although he did spend one season as the offensive coordinator at Chief Leschi High School in 2015.
Four months into his time as the Yelm head coach, Tamaalevea already knows he wants to be embedded in the program until the wheels fall off.
“I’m gonna do my best to rebuild this program. It starts from the ground up,” he said. “That’s the reason why I came. That’s the reason why I fell in love with Yelm, not only because they needed somebody to help them and to rebuild, but because of the love these boys have for the game. I’m here for the long run.”
Tamaalevea didn’t immediately have that same unconditional passion to help rebuild a program when he was in the midst of the application process in April. He began filling out the application but stopped short of hitting ‘Submit’ and walked away from the application. But, to his surprise, he got a call from the school for an interview, and he found out that his wife submitted the application for him without his knowledge, he said.
“My wife told me that she submitted it and she said, ‘I know you can do it. These boys need you,’” Tamaalevea said. “They need me, so that’s why I’m here. I’m glad my wife submitted it.”
Very few players and coaches remain from the Ronquillo era. Among those are seniors Quinten Loomis and Zander Peterson, who praised the “new energy” that Tamaalevea and his coaching staff brought to the first week of practice. After Monday’s two-hour session on a smoky, hot day, Tamaalevea and the coaches asked for more energy from their 62 players while also requesting more focus throughout practice. The Tornados are less than two weeks away from their Week 1 home matchup against Heritage.
“It’s been difficult having three different coaches in three years, but I really like this staff a lot. I’m really confident this year,” Loomis said. “I trust our play calling.”
Tamaalevea will call the offensive plays, while new defensive coordinator Damian Mansfield, known by players as “Coach Dame,” will lead the defense. Mansfield coached alongside Tamaalevea for two years at the semi-pro level before taking his first role as a high school coach in Yelm.
Tamaalevea said the first week has been about the student athletes gelling with one another and learning new offensive and defensive playbooks. The offensive playstyle will be balanced between passing and rushing, while the Tornados will deploy a 4-3-4 defense.
Coaches have also stressed the development of a player-led team in practice, which the upperclassmen have experienced in the past under the past two coaches but not quite to this degree with Tamaalevea.
“It’s a lot more on the players than the coaches. It’s a fresh start for us now,” Loomis said.
“We’ve got to start at square one and build it up from here. We have to build up our younger guys because we have a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” Peterson added. “If we build them up right now while we can, I’m pretty sure by their junior and senior years, they’ll be ready to go.”
Yelm’s starting quarterback battle is undecided entering the first full week of practice, as senior Aiden Youckton, junior Trenton Sawyers and sophomore Zechariah Johnson all received reps during practice Monday. Senior Ronald Russell will be the bellcow running back for the Tornados, along with Devin Ellison and Lalo Bravo.
Loomis, Max Hudi and Trey Spivey will be in the mix at wide receiver, while Peterson will be involved as a tight end and will also receive carries out of the backfield. Up front, Ayden Williams, Lucas Tveten and Jake Dean will be among the veteran guys along the offensive line.
On defense, Williams, Jayden Smith and Lakes transfer Jeraz “JT” Tanoa will look to get after the quarterback from the defensive line. Russell will line up at outside linebacker and Peterson will man the middle linebacker spot while also playing in the trenches. Loomis, Hudi and Spivey make up the defensive backs who will see the most time in the secondary.
Tamaalevea understands that year one at Yelm will have its speed bumps, especially with so many new players and especially in an unforgiving league such as the South Puget Sound League. But in his first season, he wants to teach the Tornados the basics of football and see players give their 110% effort.
Some coaches say that football is their oxygen, but that phrase takes on a deeper meaning for Tamaalevea, who undergoes dialysis seven days a week for 10 hours as he works toward a kidney transplant. At the beginning of the year, he weighed about 340 pounds and has cut down to about 288, needing to reach 270 pounds to have a better chance at receiving a transplant.
“I go home after practice, I connect myself at night, wake up in the morning and disconnect, and I come and I give my all to these boys,” Tamaalevea said. “I don’t care about my health. I just care about these boys. At the same time, I do care about my health because I’ve gotta be here for them. I like watching these kids work hard. I like to see their hearts. That’s why I love being here. It’s because of them and the coaches. They make me live for another day. No matter what, I’m always gonna be here for them.”
Yelm’s non-league schedule is far from easy, with Heritage coming to the Nisqually Valley Sept. 4 following a 6-3 season last fall. Lincoln, fresh off a trip to the 3A state quarterfinals in 2025, will host the Tornados in Week 2, and Yelm will welcome Lake Washington, a 9-1 team a season ago, in Week 3.
In SPSL play, Yelm hosts Olympia, Bonney Lake and Graham-Kapowsin and will visit Bethel and Spanaway Lake.
There’s not much interest in a rebuilding season from the upperclassmen who remember a time in the not-too-distance past when Yelm was a perennial state contender. The veterans in the Tornados program recognize how much is new within the team, but they can’t get rid of the burning desire to help bring Yelm football back to its glory days.
“We want to make a statement that we’re still here. We’re still Yelm,” Loomis said. “We’re not just down and out. We’re still gonna be here. We’re still gonna compete.”
