Yelm High School football’s offense rests on the legs of Brandon Thompson

A sly smile and a simple yes were very telling about what Brandon Thompson thinks he might be able to accomplish this season for the Yelm High School Tornados.

That was his only response to a question regarding whether he can top last year’s fantastic numbers, where he racked up more than 1,200 yards rushing and 10-plus touchdowns.

In 2015, the offense will still run through Thompson. Head coach Jason Ronquillo gave an emphatic, “Oh, yeah” when that question was raised.

“His intelligence is really high, he has a high football IQ,” Ronquillo said. “His flat speed is — he’s the fastest kid on the team. He’s very athletic.

“You don’t get a Brandon Thompson very often.”

That doesn’t mean Thompson is immune to critique from his coach. Following a touchdown where Thompson bulldozed his way into the end zone, Ronquillo was shouting at him from the sidelines Friday during a jamboree.

“You gotta make yourself smaller on the goal line,” he yelled at Thompson, who was celebrating the score with his teammates.

Thompson will be the key to improving on a 4-6 record last season that ended with a 44-28 loss to North Thurston in the Class 4A district playoffs.

Thompson was quick to praise teammates for his success last season.

“The offensive line was big,” he said. “The play calling from Ronquillo helped, as did consistent quarterback play that opens things up for me.”

The Tornados’ offensive line will feature a lot of new faces this year, Thompson said. He noted that they are improving quickly and will be ready for the season opener.

Thompson said he wants to focus on just having fun this season and enjoying his experience.

On Friday, Yelm played host to a scrimmage between the Tornados, Capital and Kelso.

Thompson didn’t see much work in the scrimmage, but that was by design. Ronquillo said he already knows what Thompson is capable of and was more interested in seeing how his passing game fared against a real opponent.

Quarterback Daylon Matthews returns as the starter this season. Ronquillo said his results were mixed during the scrimmages.

“He looked OK,” he said. “We knocked off a little bit of rust to start with, but he started to get into a groove. He threw for three touchdowns in a row during that last scrimmage. Once he got into a groove, he knocked off those butterflies a little bit.”

Ronquillo emphasized Yelm’s speed as its greatest strength, in addition to improved chemistry from the previous year. He said the team has simply spent more time together than they did in 2014.

“We got a lot of kids that can fly around,” he said.

Defensively, Ronquillo highlighted a couple impact players to be on the lookout for. He said linebacker De’onte Payne and free safety Peter Finley could be due for big years.

On offense, Kaleb Lunderville could end up being Matthews’ favorite target. He had a big night at the scrimmage scoring the majority of Yelm’s touchdowns.

The Tornados open their season Sept. 4 at Steilacoom.

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Yelm High School football’s offense rests on the legs of Brandon Thompson."