Motherway Has Found His Rightful Place in Line at Mater Dei This Season : Football: Lineman follows two brothers who also were standouts on the Monarchs’ offensive front.

Ryan Motherway has heard about the tradition of exceptional offensive linemen at Mater Dei High School. He has heard about their great girth, speed--for big guys, anyway--and their advancement into the college ranks.

And frankly, he’s not all that impressed.

Motherway, a 6-foot-4, 255-pound senior lineman at Mater Dei, has his own, higher expectations. After all, family bragging rights are at stake.

He’ll get another chance to show off his considerable talents when Mater Dei (6-4) takes on Redlands (8-2) in a first-round Southern Section Division I playoff game at 7:30 tonight at University of Redlands.

Brothers Mike (Mater Dei, class of 1986) and Tom (1984) played on the Monarchs’ offensive line. Keeping up with his brothers has been difficult enough.

After standout seasons at Mater Dei, Motherway’s older brothers went on to play in college. Mike played for a season at Princeton before quitting to concentrate on his studies. Tom played one season at Air Force, quit and transferred to UCLA. He made the team as a walk-on during his senior season.

Following his brothers’ lead, Motherway is intent on playing college football. Certainly, he’s off to a good start.

“It’s important,” Motherway said. “It’s a family matter. They’re my brothers.” While at Mater Dei, he has played with some of the biggest and best linemen in Orange County. Motherway has started for two seasons. A year ago, he played alongside a line that weighed in at a combined 1,295 pounds. Two of the best, Brian Turk (6-4, 265) and Rick Pallow (6-3, 240), are at Pacific 10 schools. Turk plays at USC and Pallow is at Stanford.

Here, too, Motherway worked hard to keep up.

“I had to play up with them,” he said. “They made me better.”

Still, Motherway is glad the others graduated.

“I was overlooked a lot last year,” he said. “I was always the ‘small one’ or the ‘young one.’ Now, I’m in the spotlight.”

An offseason in the Mater Dei weight room has helped push Motherway into the limelight.

Kerry Crabb, Mater Dei’s strength coach, has noticed a dramatic improvement in Motherway’s on-the-field performance.

“From last season to this, he’s increased his overall strength,” Crabb said. “The kid trains with such intensity. He’s got good explosive power and good quickness. And with his size, that makes him a dominant player.”

Motherway, who calls weightlifting a “hobby,” can bench press 335 pounds, squat 420 and clean and power 255.

Expectations were high at Mater Dei when the season began. A new coach, Bruce Rollinson, had taken over and the Monarchs had an impressive cast of veteran players in the starting lineup.

Quarterback Dan O’Neil and running back Kealii Clifford were two important players Motherway was assigned to protect.

But the season began in disappointing fashion. Mater Dei lost to Fountain Valley, 28-22, in the opening game. Then the Monarchs lost to Tustin, 21-20, and Santa Ana, 29-14.

The Monarchs were in desperate straits when they faced Edison in the fourth game.

“It got pretty shaky the first couple of weeks,” Motherway said. “Coach Crabb came in and told us before the Edison game that no Mater Dei team had gone 0-4. We got fired up and beat Edison.”

Mater Dei has won six of its past seven games, including a 21-14 victory over Edison to break the losing streak and avoid an 0-4 record.

“We’ve got it turned around now,” Motherway said. “I think the team, especially the seniors, has jelled.”