ORONO – Pete Richardson has always towered over his peers.

Growing up in Millinocket, he was the biggest kid in his class. Likewise on the football field, where he earned all-state honors for Stearns.

More recently, Richardson has stood out for the University of Maine football team, which continues its quest for an NCAA playoff spot Saturday at home against Delaware.

Richardson, who was born in Wisconsin, is a mountain of a man. At 6-foot-5 and 295 pounds, he is among the most imposing players on the squad.

Richardson, an offensive guard, plays alongside tackle Matt Hammond. They are the muscle in the running attack.

“Pete’s measured up to the challenge for a couple years now, being big and physical and tough,” said UMaine coach Jack Cosgrove.

Richardson is the charter member of UMaine’s “3-4-5 Club.” He was the first Bear to hang-clean 300 pounds, bench press 400 and squat 500.

While Division I linemen are large, some are a bit overweight. Richardson doesn’t fit into that category.

“Peter’s never had a sloppy look to him,” said Cosgrove, who pointed out Richardson, despite weighing 275 pounds, played high school tennis.

When Richardson steps onto the field, he’s all business.

“My main job is to move people out of the way,” Richardson said with a big smile. “I have a weird mentality when I play where everything seems to stop when I get down in my three-point stance and I don’t really think about much.”

What Richardson’s opponents don’t realize is, he’s a nice guy.

“He is a great young man,” Cosgrove said. “He’s a very pleasant, well-spoken kid.”

“I don’t particularly like it, but I’m always considered a big teddy bear,” Richardson said.

Richardson started for the Bears as a freshman in 1999. He retained his job the following year, but encountered the first setback of his athletic career.

During the second game of the season, against Hofstra, Richardson went down when his left knee gave out.

“I expected to be back in in two plays,” recalled Richardson, whose outlook changed while he was being evaluated on the sideline.

“I refused to acknowledge it, but I knew deep down that I tore my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament),” Richardson said.

One of his Stearns teammates had been through it three times, so the trainer’s words hit Richardson hard.

“I knew that I was out for the season,” said Richardson who, though faced with a long rehabilitation, was determined to return to the lineup.

Richardson returned last season and didn’t miss a beat. He’s stronger and faster than ever.

This year, Richardson squatted 540 pounds, benched 455 and hang-cleaned 345. He prides himself for running a 1.73 in the 10-yard dash, but pointed out his offensive line record in that event has gone to South Portland’s Mike Leconte.

Richardson is hoping to eventually get a shot at playing professional football, but he isn’t taking such an opportunity for granted.

At the suggestion of his high school math teacher, Vicki Stevens, Richardson is using his athletic scholarship to study engineering. He started in computer engineering, but has since gone a slightly different direction.

“I always like to say electrical engineering would be a good fall-back,” joked Richardson, who admits balancing engineering and Division I football is a huge challenge.

“It’s not exactly fun,” he admitted. “Of course, some of my engineering grades suffer a little bit because of football, but I try my best to do good at both of them.”

Playing at Stearns, in the shadow of Mount Katahdin, Richardson has adapted to the late-fall weather conditions.

“I would love to play a playoff game here, just because it’s really hard for teams to come up here and play,” Richardson said. “I love the cold.”