The Storm took on the Tornados on Friday night at Kiggins Bowl, and as you might expect, a whirlwind of a game ensued.
Yelm took advantage of two huge turnovers to forge a lead and Skyview’s late comeback ran out of time as the Tornados held on for a 45-41 non-league win.
“That was a wild game,” Skyview coach Steve Kizer said. “Turnover just killed us in the end.”
In the second quarter, Yelm led 17-7, but Skyview was driving. Then Yelm’s Derrick Platt stripped the ball from Jalynnee McGee and raced 67 yards for a touchdown and a 24-7 lead.
But the Storm rallied and McGee had a big play of his own, taking a screen pass and racing 75 yards for a touchdown, giving the Storm a 28-24 lead midway through the third quarter.
The two teams traded touchdowns with Yelm taking a 38-35 lead on Carson Amendt’s 7-yard touchdown run with 6:55 left.
Then the Tornados recovered a Skyview fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and Kyle Robinson’s second 1-run touchdown run of the game put Yelm up 45-35 with 5:14 to play.
“Yelm is a veteran team, and they made some big plays,” Kizer said. “But I was proud of the way we battled back, being down two scores late and then giving ourselves a shot at the end.”
Skyview drove 71 yards on six plays to cut the margin to 45-41 on a 33-yard touchdown reception by Mason Wheeler, the junior’s third TD catch of the game and the fifth TD pass by Yaroslav Duvalko.
The Skyview defense forced a stop on its own 39 with 1:45 left. Skyview drove inside the Yelm 25, but when Cooper Barnum was tackled in the middle of the field after a short catch, the clock ran out on the Storm.
Duvalko finished 31 of 45 passing for 392 yards. Wheeler had 10 catches for 135 yards and Gavin Baskette had 12 catches for 116 yards.
McGee rushed for 118 yards on 19 carries, and had four catches for 104 yards.
But the Skyview defense gave more than 400 yards of offense to the 3A Tornados. Robinson passed for 231, and Amendt rushed for 146 on 32 carries.
“It’s like the old cliche goes: I just hope our biggest improvement of the season is between Game 1 and Game 2,” Kizer said.
Skyview plays at Columbia River next week.
YELM 45, SKYVIEW 41
Yelm 17 7 7 14–45
Skyview 7 6 15 13–41
First quarter
S — Gavin Baskette 21 pass from Yaroslav Duvalko (Michael Stromberg kick)
Y — Kodee Gifford 78 pass from Kyle Robinson (Cody Frye kick)
Y — Frye 22 FG
Y — Robinson 1 run (Frye kick)
Second quarter
Y — Derrick Platt 67 fumble return (Frye kick)
S — Mason Wheeler 35 pass from Duvalko (kick failed)
Third quarter
S — Wheeler 7 pass from Duvalko (Wheeler pass from Duvalko)
S — Jalynnee McGee 75 pass from Duvalko (Stromberg kick)
Y — Austin Osso 7 pass from Robinson (Frye kick)
Fourth quarter
S — McGee 4 run (Stromberg kick)
Y — Carson Amendt 7 run (Frye kick)
Y — Robinson 1 run (Frye kick)
S — Wheeler 33 pass from Duvalko (kick blocked)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Yelm: Amendt 32-146, Robinson 14-47, Josh Platt 1-2. Skyview: McGee 19-118, Holland 4-7.
PASSING — Yelm: Robinson 12-24-0-231. Skyview: Duvalko 31-45-0-392.
RECEIVING — Yelm: Osso 5-98; Gifford 1-78; Sylas Franklin 2-24; Amendt 3-8; J. Platt 1-5. Skyview: Wheeler 10-135; Baskette 12-116; McGee 4-104; Ahmani Williams 3-25; Holland 1-10; Cooper Barnum 1-2.
