The Bulldog Way, The Ayala Code

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The Bulldog Way: It’s how you treat people.

The Ayala Code: It’s the way Ayala plays. The last part of the code is to finish strong.

‘And we’ve been finishing our games,’ Ayala Coach Tom Inglima said.

Their finishing touch came up short against Glendora on Friday, as the Bulldogs lost, 24-17. But the loss doesn’t lessen the accomplishments of the season, Inglima said.

‘This kids are disappointed right now, but I’m not at all. I’m very proud of the way they played,’ he added.

Ayala, after last year’s 0-10 season, took part in a very meaningful game in November. And that’s nothing to be diminished with a loss.

‘We put in a lot of work, and we did a lot of things in the off-season to forge unity among this group,’ Inglima said. ‘This is truly a family. I’ve been trying to coach that for 15 years (and) this is the first time it has actually happened and that’s why we are having this special season.’

Some of the credit goes to the Orange Lutheran coaching staff, which during the off-season came to Ayala to discuss how to build a program.

OLU’s message to Inglima: ‘You don’t coach for the scoreboard, you coach to help these kids become young men, quality citizens and good Christians.’

It’s the essence of The Bulldog Way and the Ayala Code.

‘Being here, feeling the crowd, it was awesome,’ said quarterback Matt Baca after the game. ‘Ayala has never experienced this since 2002, so it’s been awesome, it’s been fun, it’s been a great time and hopefully in the playoffs it’ll be even better.’

-- Jaime Cardenas