NATCHEZ &045; Don’t let the yes sirs, the polite manners, the reserved personality and the wire-rimmed glasses fool you.

Natchez High’s Anthony Strauder is a man-child, who, once he slips those glasses off and delicately puts in his contact lenses, wrestles through a pair of shoulder pads and squeezes his massive cranium into an extra large gold helmet with &uot;Bulldogs&uot; stickered to the side, can leap tall linemen in a single bound, is faster than a speeding running back with 4.3 speed and is more powerful than a tackling dummy.

&uot;It really doesn’t happen in the locker room,&uot; said the 6-4, 285-pound senior defensive tackle who has caught the eyes of some notable college football programs. &uot;When I’m walking through the gates and hear my cleats cracking against the rocks and the band playing and seeing all the people from the community in the stands, I transform into another person.&uot;

Woe to opposing offenses, especially the boys in the trenches where Strauder wreaked havoc used his 4.9 speed in the 40 to accumulate more than 40 tackles and four sacks through 5 1/2 games this season.

A broken left fibula in the Bulldogs’ (1-7, 0-4 Region 3-5A) 60-14 loss to Meridian Oct. 3 has sidelined Strauder for the remainder of the year to the delight of the teams remaining on Natchez’s schedule.

The injury, however, has not deterred Division I college football teams such as Southern Mississippi, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss and Mississippi State from keeping a watchful eye on Strauder’s rehabilitation progress.

&uot;More than anything, this experience of being hurt has taught me a lot about the coaches that really want me,&uot; said Strauder, whose uncle Herman Carroll played defensive end for Mississippi State and professional with New Orleans in the late 1980s and early 90s.

&uot;It’s helped me narrow it down because one minute you’re up and one you’re down. It’s shown me who was really interested in the first place.&uot;

Despite enjoying the hype and praised he has received, Strauder is a little unnerved each evening with Internet recruiting strangers &uot;blowing up&uot; his phone.

He keeps it all in perspective, though, when those calls are from college coaches and scouts.

&uot;It’s the fact of knowing coaches see my potential and the opportunity to get even better,&uot; Strauder said. &uot;You have to be pretty good to play in the SEC or anywhere else in Division I-A football.&uot;

While Strauder has made no official visit to any of his favorites that are offering scholarships, plans are in the works for trips to Stillwater, Okla., to see the Cowboys play Texas and to Hattiesburg, which has lingered closest since a teammate rolled under Strauder’s leg while he was blocking on offense.

His bloodline ties to Mississippi State, and the fact that friend and Trinity senior receiver Dudley Guice is a verbal commitment for the Bulldogs keeps Starkville’s disarrayed program ahead of the pack.

&uot;I’ve been on their campus a lot and seen plenty of State games,&uot; Strauder said. &uot;I guess once a ‘Dog always a ‘Dog you know.&uot;

A dog is the furthest thing from how most would describe our Clark Kent here away from the field.

A 3.5 student, who has already cleared the necessary ACT score with an impressive 22, Strauder is a quiet 17-year-old who prides himself on being a typical Boy Scout.

But Friday nights are a different story. The Hulk to his David Banner come alive, and Strauder’s only goal is to carve his way through the psyches of his mirror on the offensive side of the ball.

&uot;A lot of time I tell linemen when they first feel what I’m bringing, ‘I look forward to the rest of the game when you start throwing double teams at me or trying to do whatever you can to stop me,’ he said.

&uot;He’s a competitive kid; someone who leads by example,&uot; Bulldogs head coach James Denson said. &uot;He did a good job of getting guys around him to play better. It becomes contagious when you see another player giving everything he has.&uot;

But it wasn’t always so effortless for the 53rd best overall defensive tackle in the country, according to TheInsiders.com.

Denson, who has been force to start a sophomore at Strauder’s spot since the injury, said as an immature sophomore Strauder had more roller coasters than the Dow Jones.

&uot;The biggest thing Anthony has done that I’m pleased with is his development as a young man,&uot; he said. &uot;He put his priorities in line.&uot;

A recommitment to football during Strauder’s junior season aided in that. Now the soft-spoken beast his is own worst critic.

There’s no denying that his first step and his techniques are sound for the next level, but Strauder sees a lot of wiggle room in developing his upper body and some consistency on every down.

&uot;I took a lot of growing pains,&uot; he said. Bulldog coaches &uot;taught me a lot about what I know. But when you move on to the next level coaches are going to teach you so much more.&uot;

Strauder said it is frustrating to know that Natchez is staring its second one-win season in three years in the eye &045; this after a 0-11 2002 campaign.

He believes talent is not a determinant factor in the Bulldogs’ disappointment, but more a winning personality.

Through it all, the introvert has kept a positive attitude between the white lines.

&uot;I’m more vocal on the field than off it. I think the team really has fed off of my energy,&uot; Strauder said. &uot;I say some tough things some times to get them going.&uot;

A stroll through the Bulldogs’ locker room before a game and it’s easy to pick out our superhero. He’s the one not screaming, not pounding on the pads of his teammates or leading a huddled group in chants.

No, no. Instead, Strauder is off to the side, eyes closed, visualizing how the night’s script will be written.

&uot;That first play of the game when you come off the ball and go against another player you find out what it’s going to be like with your strength against his,&uot; he said. &uot;At that moment one of who knows whether or not you’re going be able to handle this player the rest of the game.

&uot;The last two years I’ve known I had the upper hand.&uot;