Robinson throws 5 TDs in Yelm’s rout of North Thurston

For all the praise Kyle Robinson’s arm has received this season it maybe easy to overlook his legs.

Well, the junior quarterback has some wheels too.

Robinson scored on a 67-yard run and tossed four first-half touchdown passes to help the Tornados notch their fourth consecutive win with a 42-12 victory over visiting North Thurston in 3A South Sound Conference play on Friday.

Robinson finished with five TD passes, adding a 65-yard touchdown to Austin Osso late in the third quarter, before sitting out the final quarter.

“It’s just everyone on the team making big plays right now,” Robinson said. “The line’s blocking awesome. Guys are stepping up. Everything is just clicking for us right now.”

Senior Kodee Gifford was Robinson’s favorite target, catching a trio of TD passes in the first half.

After dropping their season opener — a 36-33 non-conference heart-breaker to Bethel — the Tornados have rolled their past four opponents and find themselves right in the mix for the SSC championship.

“The was a tough loss. It hurt,” Robinson said, “but it made us re-focus as a team.”

Yelm (4-1, 3-0 SSC) took a comfortable 35-6 lead into the intermission.

The Tornados scored on four of their five first-half possessions with the only miscue coming on their second drive when Robinson threw a rare interception deep in North Thurston territory.

The Rams (0-5, 0-3) took full advantage of the turnover and marched right down the field, getting a 4-yard TD run from Zion Kirk.

Robinson, who hit Jacob McCown on a 15-yard scoring strike on Yelm’s opening possession, quickly made up for his mistake as he threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Gifford to push the Tornado’s advantage to 14-6.

Despite trailing early, North Thurston showed plenty of fight as they looked to even up the contest, taking the ball down to the Yelm 1-yard line before being turned away.

Then came Robinson’s big run and with it all the momentum shifted towards the Tornados for the remainder of the half.

Gifford hauled in two more touchdown passes, including a 6-yard scoring grab on fourth-and-goal, to produce the halftime score.

The teams opened the second half by trading interceptions before Kirk added his second touchdown, a 1-yard plunge with 3 minutes, 46 seconds left in the third quarter, to cut the Rams deficit to 35-12.

Yelm will face undefeated Timberline, the defending conference champion, in a key SSC matchup next week.

This story was originally published September 29, 2017 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Robinson throws 5 TDs in Yelm’s rout of North Thurston."