One of the Toughest Kids on the Block at Narbonne : Football: Minnie Anaya, a former boxer, has earned the respect of teammates, coaches and opponents in her new sport.

In Minnie Anaya’s first football game for Narbonne High this season, a North Hollywood lineman failed to realize he was lining up against a girl.

When he accidentally reached inside Anaya’s jersey while she blocked during a punt, she looked up and playfully asked, “Having fun?”

“I shocked the hell out of him,” said Anaya, who plays on the offensive line on special teams. “He had no idea I was a girl.”

Based on Anaya’s background, it really should come as no surprise that she chose to go out for football.

The 5-foot-11, 172-pound senior prepared herself for the physical aspects of the game through boxing, which she took up at age 6.

“(Football) wasn’t my idea, it was one of my boxing instructors’,” Anaya said. “He thought I was lazy so he told me to try out for something physical. I guess I wanted to prove something to him.”

Having grown up in a rough section of Bridgeport, Conn., Anaya said she learned to box to defend herself.

Sometimes her fighting skills come in handy on the football field.

In a game against South Gate, a player hit Anaya from behind. She grabbed him and threw him to the ground, prompting him to call her an offensive name.

“After the game he told me that I had played all right,” Anaya said, laughing.

Narbonne Coach Pat Bender said he treats Anaya the same as other players, and she has held her own in practices and games.

“I’ve tried to bring her along slowly,” Bender said. “I didn’t want anything to happen to her. She’s surprised some people once or twice.”

With each practice, Anaya has made an impression on her teammates.

“I view her as part of the team,” Tony Martinez said. “We don’t change any of our habits. We still talk about the same things, we still spit . . . everything we always have done.”

Anaya says she doesn’t mind being considered one of the boys.

“They do their thing and that doesn’t bother me,” she said. “The boys are pretty cool.”

Said teammate Tom Wells: “I think (having a girl on the team) is good as long as she can play, and (Anaya) has a lot of heart.”

Anaya has impressed her teammates with her work ethic.

“She’s great,” David Kator said. “When she first came out we were all tired after practice, but she just went out and ran a mile and did another 40 pushups.”

Anaya says football is tougher than boxing.

“You just don’t expect people to be flying at you,” she said. “Sometimes you are just running along and all of a sudden you are hit from behind and knocked down. That makes it tougher.”

Anaya attended Narbonne’s homecoming activities Oct. 16 with several bruises she received during the Gauchos’ 7-0 victory over L.A. Jordan. The win broke a 12-game losing streak for Narbonne (1-6, 1-5 in the Southeastern Conference). Narbonne plays at Fremont at 8 tonight.

After Narbonne finished 1-9 last year, one player worried that opponents might think the Gauchos were desperate to the point of recruiting girls for the team.

“I thought (teams) would laugh at us,” Martinez said.

However, opposing players have been more surprised than amused.

“I was shocked,” said Isaac Lopez, a tackle for South Gate. “You couldn’t tell she was a girl until you looked in her helmet. It felt kind of weird having to hit her, but you’ve got a job to do so you don’t want to hold back.

“She wasn’t a wimp. She didn’t just fall on the ground.”

South Gate Coach Gary Cordray said a few girls have attempted to play football for him, but most quit during the first day of practice.

“You have to let anybody play that wants to play,” Cordray said. “If we had a girl that was strong enough to play the game, that’s one thing, but we wouldn’t want a girl that was just out for publicity.”

But some coaches believe girls should not play football.

“I don’t think football is a place for a woman,” Jordan assistant Ben Merchant said. “My main objection is that it would create too much havoc, trying to make accommodations for a woman. If you wanted to create a whole new section and bring in a woman to coach the thing, that’s fine.”

Anaya suits up in a cramped storage locker in the corner of the boys’ dressing room, away from the main dressing area.

Anaya said her family supported her decision to play football, especially when she had to get approval from school officials.

“My mom just told them, ‘If she wants to play, let her play,’ ” Anaya said. “My parents said, ‘Do what you want to do.’ ”

From the boxing ring to the football field, Anaya has done exactly that.