Orange Lutheran Has Toughest Kid on Block

It was meant as a joke when an Orange Lutheran security guard shouted to tight end Blake Ayles, “I ordered up two ambulances,” before the team’s game against Cypress.

The implication was that Ayles might hurt someone, because at 6 feet 4 and 215 pounds, Ayles is a man among boys.

He’s the sophomore version of Mission Viejo senior tight end Konrad Reuland, recognized as the best in the state. Except Ayles might be a better blocker than Reuland right now.

“For a sophomore, he’s amazing,” Coach Jim Kunau said.

He should be known as Blake the Basher, or Ayles the Annihilator, because of the way he flattens defensive players.

In Lutheran’s opening series against Cypress, Ayles sent two linebackers and a defensive tackle crashing to the turf on three consecutive plays.

Call them pancakes if you like, but Ayles shows no mercy in sending players flying.

“I’m a physical kind of guy,” he said. “It’s better than catching a touchdown -- putting someone on their back.”

Not that Ayles can’t catch touchdowns. He has 29 receptions, six for touchdowns, this season.

But watching him block is football at its best. It’s one of the main jobs of a tight end, and it’s scary to think how dominant he’ll be by the time he’s a senior.

Ayles just turned 16, and his coaches at Lutheran have taught him the fundamentals of being a prolific blocker.

“Always keep moving your feet and never stop until the whistle blows,” Ayles said.

And that’s what you see as Ayles makes contact with one defender, then proceeds to another and another.

“He’s such a good athlete,” Kunau said. “He’s got real good hips and agility, which allows him to stay low.”

Even as a young boy, Ayles was destined to take his act to the football field.

“He was all boy,” his mother, Mary Kay, said. “He would never sit still or watch TV. He always wanted to go outside.”

In elementary school, Ayles worried his teachers that he might hurt someone because of how physical the competition got. He said it took three or four classmates to try to tackle him, climbing his back and grabbing his legs.

At Lutheran (8-1), he has become a dependable target for quarterback Aaron Corp and projects as a top college prospect.

Ayles said Marcedes Lewis of UCLA is the tight end he has been watching closely, but it’s only a matter of time before Ayles is the one setting the standard for excellence.

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Another tight end who deserves recognition is 6-6, 220-pound senior Tommy Gallarda of Brea Olinda.

He has caught 11 touchdown passes while being used in a variety of formations.

“I’m catching short balls, middle balls and deep balls,” he said.

Only 17, with the body to gain lots more weight, Gallarda is going to make some college coach very happy one day.

He has a 73-yard touchdown reception and caught 11 passes for 180 yards against Placentia El Dorado.

Unfortunately, he’s done for the regular season after being diagnosed with mononucleosis.

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What coach would dare let his running back carry the ball 45 times in a game?

Santa Ana Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson couldn’t believe that junior Ahmed Mokhtar carried 45 times for 162 yards in an overtime victory over Los Angeles Loyola last week.

“When I got back to school and was doing the stats, I almost fell out of my chair,” Rollinson said.

Said Mokhtar’s father, Tarek: “I was tired watching him.”

So how sore was Mokhtar on Saturday morning?

“Usually, after games, I just ice down,” he said. “But this time, it didn’t really seem I carried the ball 45 times.”

Mokhtar said he worked harder in practice on his sprints last week, leaving him in better shape. But everyone, from coaches to teammates to friends, kept asking him how he felt as if feeling sorry for him.

“Oh my gosh, it was all day,” he said. “I could have been pampered.”