Already a three-sport standout, this Yelm linebacker just had a Heisman moment in the season opener

In college football, it’s called a Heisman moment. The signature play that separates one of the nation’s best players from his peers once and for all.

Yelm High School linebacker Derrick Platt may have produced the prep equivalent last Friday in Vancouver. Both Platt and Tornados coach Jason Ronquillo think the play he made could help him win the Class 3A South Sound Conference’s defensive MVP award.

With 4A Skyview driving, trying to cut into a 10-point second-quarter Yelm lead, a screen pass went to Storm running back Jalynnee McGee, who would end up rushing for 118 yards during the game.

Platt stripped the ball from McGee, recovered it, and raced 67 yards up the left sideline through a pair of defenders for a touchdown. Yelm won an air-tight 45-41 game to open the season.

Add that to the 106 tackles, including nine sacks, Platt recorded last season and his chances to wind up with the defensive MVP plaque rose in a matter of seconds.

“Their running back came motioning out, so I told my other linebacker (Peyton Gendron) to spread out,” Platt said. “We all rallied to the ball, I stripped it, did a little spin move and I was in a race with the quarterback.

“Going back to the sidelines everybody was excited, slapping me on the helmet. Our fans were going crazy.”

Though Skyview rallied to lead briefly during the second half, Platt’s play encouraged the Tornados. And Ronquillo missed it.

“I wasn’t actually looking at the field when it happened,” he said. “I was looking down at my play sheet. I heard the excitement. It was obviously a momentum changer.”

When Ronquillo and defensive coordinator Todd Cordova saw the play on film though, they rewarded Platt with the shiniest object in their power to give — the team’s gold-colored ‘Turnover Bucket’ hat, awarded to a player who creates a big takeaway.

Platt wearing the bucket may become a common sight.

“Derrick has a knack for creating turnovers,” Ronquillo said. “If he’s not the first one on the tackle, he’s always going for the ball. He gets his butt chewed sometimes because we’ll be asking for the tackle, and he’s trying to get the ball out.”

Platt, a three-sport athlete, is the defending 3A state wrestling champion at 182 pounds, and reached the state track and field championships last spring in both hurdles races. He credits Cordova for his ongoing development since reaching high school.

“He’s a great coach,” Platt said. “We’re a run-stopping defense and Cordova is always pushing me to make more tackles.”

Of his three sports, Platt — who also holds a 3.88 GPA and is ASB vice president — would prefer to play football in college. He’s being recruited by several programs, including Montana, Simon Fraser and Pacific Lutheran, where his brother Austin played.

Nonetheless, both Platt and Ronquillo see the value in his broad-based sports participation.

“Football and wrestling go hand-in-hand. A lot of the tackling technique we use in football translates into takedowns in wrestling,” Platt said.

“As a three-sport athlete, he’s really developed a competitive edge and overall athleticism that other athletes don’t have,” Ronquillo said.

“Competing in three sports makes him move in all sorts of different directions. It helps with his balance, it helps with his understanding of how to use his own body in space.”

Ronquillo sees one downside to Platt moving from one sport to the next throughout the school year.

“Derrick hasn’t really been able to develop the frame size he might if he’d taken a little bit of time off,” he said. “The good part of being a three-sport athlete is you’re developing the athleticism colleges like, but once he’s removed from high school he’s probably going to put on 20-25 pounds, easy.”

Before college comes at least nine more high school games, including a big one Friday night in Yelm when 2A state runner-up Tumwater comes to town fresh from brushing aside defending 3A SSC champion Timberline, 35-6.

The Tornados wanted a challenging preseason, and a competitive victory over Skyview was a start.

Tumwater, with its platoon of speedy running backs coming out of the deceptive wing-T formation, presents a different challenge.

“Everybody has to be assignment-first. You can’t play selfish football against Tumwater,” Ronquillo said. “You’ve got to keep your eyes in the right spot, looking for the right keys, otherwise you’re going to be chasing people from behind and you’re going to lose.”

With the challenging local opponent and a “Blue Out” to honor former Yelm golfer and honor roll student Nya Jacquez, who died of colon cancer in 2016, Platt expects an enthusiastic environment.

“It’s a big game, a big rivalry. I know a lot of those guys at Tumwater. They want to beat us and we want to beat them,” he said. “The stands are going to be full.”