Bellevue RB on warpath for offers

Ari Morales is a 5-foot-8.5, 161-pound running back from Bellevue, Wash. is one of a stable of very good high school running backs that play for the Bellevue Wolverines, and along with John Nguyen were the 1-2 punch BHS relied on in a pinch on their way to their fourth straight Class 3A title.

Along the way, the Wolverines beat California powerhouse Oaks Christian 31-21, and Morales had a 23-yard touchdown run that was a thing of beauty. "Ari, when you look at him…he's a slender kid," said Matt Razore, Bellevue's defensive backs coach and the one that takes care of a lot of the college recruiting duties for the Wolverines when asked by Scout.com recently about Morales. "But he's deceptively strong. If you saw our game versus Oaks Christian, he shed Jordan Payton and Cameron Judge and Carlos Mendoza's tackles - and those are Pac-12 guys right there. He literally broke three of their tackles.

"He may only be 160 pounds, but he has really good burst and his speed is good and his strength is there. He's going to be 170 pounds this year, running in the 4.5's, and he's a really strong kid."

According to the Seattle Times, Morales ran for 616 yards on 58 carries, an average of 10.6 yards per tote. He also scored nine touchdowns.

On the recruiting front, Washington, Utah and Princeton have been sending Morales information, and he's set on getting out to all the local and national camps he can, including the Five-Star, Nike and UnderArmour camps. "I like Washington and Utah," he recently told Scout.com. "I like (Utah's) program a lot, they have a good team and our quarterbacks coach (Mike Fouts) played there."

Ari Morales Scout.com Profile

Ari Morales 2011 Highlights