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He's for real, they all say. The strength, the surprising agility, the accolades that those have yielded, each as true as it is good.

Moreover, the people around Ryker Mathews want to tell you he's as genuine as he seems. A 6-foot-6 bear — more teddy than grizzly — Mathews was unbothered by the fact few seemed to realize that he, not Bingham's Harvey Langi or anybody else, was the state's top-rated football prospect from the class of 2011.

"I'm used to it, because linemen never really get fame or anything like that," Mathews said.

He loyally battled for American Fork last season through each disappointing turn. Instead of lamenting the team's transition year and 3-7 record, Mathews said he was grateful to be around for the "start of a new legacy" under first-year coach Aaron Behm.

Similarly, when Brigham Young University's team endured its most frustrating fall in memory, replete with a makeover of the coaching staff, Mathews never wavered from his commitment that he would play there starting next fall.

Mathews will join Langi as the only Utah prep stars in Saturday's U.S. Army All-American Bowl. There, on national TV, Mathews will start at offensive tackle in a spotlight he's always avoided.

"He doesn't ever want attention drawn to himself, ever," said Rebecca Rothey, Mathews' mother. "He just feels very strange wearing the All-American jersey, anything that would bring him attention to him."

Attention always has found Mathews, whether it was invited or not. As soon as he started playing football in seventh grade, it was apparent Mathews would be bigger and better than everyone else. He took naturally to becoming an offensive lineman.

It's where people who are naturally protective often find themselves after they strap on pads. Linemen are often more tender than the sheer brutality of their position might suggest. Mathews, who protected American Fork quarterback Ryan Pitcher from who-knows-how-many sacks this season, is no different.

"He wants to live up to everything that his dad would want him to be," Rothey said.

Ryker was 6 when his father, Niles, who played high school football in California, went to the hospital and was diagnosed with pancreatitis. Nobody suggested it was especially serious.

Five days later, Niles died.

"I think all these years that's just always been the background for all of [Ryker's] reasoning of doing things," Rothey said, "that he just wanted to make his dad proud."

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl seems the perfect fit for someone like Mathews. The teams, East and West, have spent this week not only practicing, but visiting wounded soldiers in the hospital and reading to elementary school students.

In other ways, though, Mathews is different from other players in the game. Many, like Langi, will announce their college choices Saturday. Mathews committed to BYU in August, just a few days before American Fork's first game, because he didn't want his recruitment to be a distraction. He made his announcement away from cameras and suspense, casually telling his family in the kitchen of their American Fork home.

For the other All-Americans, Saturday likely will be a final return to football until summer, with college starting sometime after that. Mathews, conversely, graduated early from American Fork so he could participate in spring practices with the Cougars. He starts classes in Provo next week and will move in with his sister near campus.

"It's a huge step," Mathews said. "Kind of weird to think that my whole high school recruiting and all that stuff is over. Just getting into all that stuff and the responsibilities of an adult."

First, though, Mathews gets to be a high school football player one final time.

boram@sltrib.comTwitter: @oramb —

U.S. Army All-American Bowl

P Where • San Antonio

When • Saturday, 11 a.m.

Who • Bingham running back Harvey Langi and American Fork lineman Ryker Mathews

TV • Ch. 5