Photo by Bill Green Taking a day off from the grind, Linganore offensive tackle Rob Havenstein watches from the sidelines Wednesday afternoon.

Havenstein, a polite, engaging and humble junior at Linganore High School, doesn't look for attention. But since he is 6 foot 7 inches and 325 pounds (down almost 20 pounds since the start of football practice), it's sort of hard for him to avoid.

This week alone, as the 4-0 Lancers prepare to play Friday at 3-1 Middletown , a scout from Notre Dame -- the Notre Dame -- stopped by practice to pay the massive left tackle a visit.

Last week, it was Virginia. Syracuse is on the way. Oh, and Maryland is wooing him, too.

When Havenstein has opened his mail box, he has found letters from Stanford, Illinois and Nebraska among others.

"He gets a lot of mail," Linganore coach Rick Conner said. "Sometimes I feel like his personal mailman."

Havenstein admits that sort of attention is flattering, but it really doesn't get his heart racing. Not yet anyway.

"My family always taught me that school comes first," he said.

After practice, the first priority is getting his homework done.

"Rob is such an intelligent kid. That's one of the best parts about him," Conner said. "He carries a 3.9 GPA. These aren't easy classes he's taking, either. They are honors and advanced-placement type classes."

In addition to his study habits, Havenstein can thank his family for his athletic prowess.

His father, Gary, played football and basketball in school and his mother, Cheryl, was a cheerleader.

Older sister Holly accepted a full scholarship last spring to play basketball at Colgate University after scoring more than 1,000 points at Linganore and twin brother Jeff, also 6-foot-7 but several pounds lighter, plays with him on the Lancers' basketball team.

"It just runs in the family," Rob said. "Everyone is into sports. We all like coming to games and everything."

Football is Havenstein's favorite sport and where he has gained most of his notoriety.

General reactions by opponents and outsiders to his enormous presence on the field go something like this: "They look at his feet. Then they look up at his head and they just go, 'Wow.' That's about what they do," Conner said.

Or, as senior running back Pat Balderson put it, "After the game, they are always like, 'Man, that guy is huge.' Every time (in the hand-shake line) they are just like, 'Good gam ... ohhhhhh.'"

But life in Havenstein's shadow really isn't that bad. Just ask the 5-foot-8, 175-pound Balderson.

"Well, other than the fact that people can not see you, it helps," Balderson said.

"When you are running behind him, they don't expect you behind him until they are like, 'What's going on?' So, once I make a cut, it's hard for them. É The first time I ran behind him last year, I was thinking, 'I like this.'"

Havenstein can be a mauling blocker on the field, but his aggression really subsides as soon as the whistle blows.

"It's definitely not a personal battle for me," he said. "On the field, I am just thinking about what I need to do to help the team. Then, I just go out and hit them."

On some plays, Havenstein will help teammates and opposing players off the turf. Conner refers to him as a "gentle giant."

By the time he is done playing at Linganore , Conner might also refer to him as one of the finest to wear a Lancers uniform.

"The best thing about Robby, getting to know him as well as I have the last couple of years, he has a ornery side to him. He has a lot of fun walking in the hallways with his friends, but he's a real competitor," Conner said.

"This year, he's been a real leader. Last year, as a first-year varsity player, he just showed up and played. But this year, he's led. He's taken on more of a responsibility for our football team and we have benefited greatly from it."