He’s big, but not too big

If someone wants to label Ventura St. Bonaventure offensive tackle Giovanni Di Poalo an “Italian Stallion,” he’ll gladly accept the compliment.

He loves pasta almost as much as knocking over linebackers.

“People ask if I’m corn fed,” he said. “I say I’m pasta and milk fed. That’s why I’m so big.”

What’s scary about Di Poalo is that he’s not as big as he’s going to be. At 6 feet 5, 250 pounds, he feels comfortable relying on speed and strength more than trying to become a 300-pounder in high school.

“I like to have my speed and like to be able to do things other linemen can’t,” he said. “I’m trying to stay my weight and start a new revolution of linemen.”

It’s an interesting point of view because it seems as if high school and college coaches want 300-pounders who take up massive amounts of space and overpower people.

Di Poalo might get there someday, but he wants to put weight on gradually, eating healthy and gaining strength from working out in the weight room. He’s already the strongest lineman at St. Bonaventure, with 285-pound bench press and 405-pound squat.

“Playing offensive line is all about leverage, and he bends at the knee,” Coach Todd Therrien said. “He gets down and gets great power angles.”

Di Poalo comes from a family of football players. His grandfather, Carmen, coached at Santa Barbara City College and played at UCLA. His father, Joe, is a former football coach at Santa Barbara Bishop Diego. His younger brother, Domenic, is a 6-4 freshman defensive end at Santa Barbara Dos Pueblos.

“Football has been our life,” Joe said.

Di Poalo has all the mannerisms and attitudes down pat.

“I have the Batman complex,” he said. “When my helmet’s off, I’m laid back. But as soon as the helmet is on, you have to go to work. You get more aggressive, you concentrate, you look out for somebody to knock off their feet. I love it.”

Di Poalo has helped St. Bonaventure to a 7-1 record and a No. 1 ranking in the Southern Section’s Northern Division. He’s a member of a talented group of junior linemen across the Southland that has college recruiters excited.

There’s Ben Loth and Hroniss Grasu at Encino Crespi, Chris Ward at Santa Ana Mater Dei, Ben Gottschalk and Daniel Munyer at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Erik Kohler at Westlake Village Oaks Christian, Matthew Jakubiec at Anaheim Servite, Ryan Edwards at Long Beach Poly and Mike Christie at Mission Viejo.

Di Poalo has intrigued college recruiters because of his athleticism and attitude.

“You have to be aggressive,” he said. “You have to have the will to do it. You can’t be lazy. You have to work hard in the weight room and run. You can’t rely on just skills.”

His beliefs and habits come from receiving lessons and advice from his father.

“I’ve always been a defensive coordinator,” Joe said. “What I’ve tried to instill in him is playing offensive line like a defensive player, going the extra mile, being aggressive, making three blocks in a series.

“I’ve tried to instill that defensive temperament into an offensive player.”

Joe used to be a 6-1, 185-pound linebacker at Weber State, which brings up the question how he’d do going against his son.

“I’d avoid him and get to the ball, but he has some quickness,” he said. “The linemen I feared most were the quick ones.”

Giovanni is a growing teenager whose father packs him a lunch of two sandwiches, chips, fruit and yogurt.

And when it comes to pasta, he’ll eat it morning, afternoon and night if it’s available.

“My mom and dad both are good cooks,” he said.

They need to be to take care of a 17-year-old who’s going to be St. Bonaventure’s big man on campus for a couple of years.

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eric.sondheimer@latimes.com