To fully appreciate Mike Prothero's status on the Northwood football team, perhaps it's best to take a look back at

Northwood senior back Mike Prothero in Northwood’s win over Lake in the Battle for Lemoyne Road. (Photo by Don Thompson/picasaweb.google.com /donrachael)

 how he got here.

Prothero, a two-time first-team All-Toledo Area Athletic Conference linebacker, quickly became an impact player for coach Ken James' Rangers back in 2007.

“Mike has started at linebacker since he was a freshman,” James said. “He rotated in at running back his freshman year and he's been a full-time linebacker ever since. He didn't earn playing time by default. He was good enough to start on an 8-2 football team. He was a kid who wasn't afraid, even when he was young.”

Prothero (5-10, 189) was able to gain the respect of his older teammates during his freshman year. He also performed well enough to earn second-team All-TAAC honors that season.

“There was still a lot of pressure on me as far as playing,” Prothero said. “It was easy pressure-wise, mostly because of all the seniors I played with. I was pretty close with the seniors. I've always been pretty close with the whole team.”

Prothero said he was asked to become a “team leader” during his freshman season, but he turned down the offer because he didn't feel he had earned that responsibility.

“I didn't want to stir up anything,” he said. “I wanted to work up a couple years to become a team leader.”

Prothero is now one of Northwood's senior captains, and he has become comfortable in a leadership role. He's helped the Rangers win three straight TAAC championships, and they are a heavy favorite to win a fourth straight title this season. Northwood also reached the Division V state playoffs in 2009.

“I see myself as keeping people going,” Prothero said. “I don't really yell at people. My yelling is kind of a joking

Lake junior defensive back Nathan Pennington (7) and senior lineman Tyler Mazey (56) try to bring down Northwood senior Mike Prothero during the Rangers’ victory in the Battle for Lemoyne oad. (Photo by Don Thompson/picasaweb.google. com/donrachael)

 yelling. I want them to know if they need anything, I'm here, but they still have to know that I'm working just as hard as them. If they don't work hard, I get on them. I want them to know we're all in this as a team.”

Prothero is a notoriously hard worker in practice, and he makes sure his teammates are willing to work just as hard.

“Practice typically isn't fun, but he has fun at practice,” James said. “He never shuts up. He's always talking. When we're running sprints, he'll jump out of the line to get them running faster. He just enjoys practicing and playing the game. He has a smile on his face all the time. He's a tough kid who just tends to enjoy what he's doing.

“He's the same way in school. The teachers like him. He's a steady worker in everything he does. When he comes out to practice, he's ready to go. He's our best practice player - he comes after guys hard and he goes full speed.”

Working hard and having fun have always come naturally for Prothero. As far as he's concerned, how you play on Friday night is determined by how you practice during the week. Prothero even admitted that he will purposely try to upset his teammates or coaches so that they have to run extra sprints.

“I've always loved practice,” Prothero said. “I get in people's heads and make them work. Every practice is going to lead to a big game. If you have fun at practice, you always have an exciting game. I never try to go into practice with a negative thought.”

Prothero has been a huge contributor in the Rangers' 2-0 start this season. Northwood opened with a 36-0 rout of Lakota and followed that with a 29-2 win at Lake last Friday. Prothero not only is a standout at outside linebacker, he is just as reliable on offense at halfback or fullback.

“He's got good speed, but he's not a burner,” James said. “Mike has always been a dependable football player. He doesn't fumble the ball and he's one of our best blockers. We could put him at guard if we had to. He does everything well. We're going to miss him like crazy when he graduates.”

Prothero, 17, said he enjoys carrying the football more than playing linebacker.

“I like running the ball because it's a lot more exciting to get hit and feel how hard people can hit,” he said. “I like playing running back. It's exciting to see how some people are big hitters. Getting hit doesn't faze me as much. I haven't had a serious injury from it. It kind of hurts more when you're the one hitting somebody.”

Prothero, who has a 3.3 GPA, is being looked at by a few colleges, including some Ivy League schools. He wants to play ball at the next level and study chemical engineering or computer engineering.

“The school I want to try to get into is Cincinnati,” Prothero said. “I like the atmosphere of Cincinnati in general. It seems like a really good school for me. I know I could get a lot of guys hyped up there.”

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