San Diego Prep Review/Chris Ello : ‘Tiny’ and ‘Jumbo’: As Football Nicknames They Somehow Miss the Mark

Vista High School tackle Anthony Mitchell and Escondido tackle Robert Malsack have nicknames that suggest something about their size. However, something may have got lost in the translation.

Vista’s Tiny Mitchell isn’t--he’s 6-feet 7-inches and 305 pounds. Escondido’s Jumbo Malsack is only 6-3, 235.

“I don’t know how anybody ever started calling him ‘Tiny,’ ” said Dale Cole, Vista assistant athletic director. “I just call him big. I think he likes that.”

Malsack, a senior, got his nickname as a member of Escondido’s freshman team. He was 6-2, 205 as a freshman. According to Escondido coaches, the kids used to moan, “We don’t want to try and block that jumbo.”

Both are excellent players. Mitchell was voted to the first-team All-Palomar League and Malsack made the first-team All-Avocado League squad.

Numbers games: What’s the best football league in the county? With two Palomar League teams and two Grossmont League teams in the 3-A semifinals, it would be easy to designate those as the strongest.

But to get a true idea of a league’s strength, check records over the last few seasons. Here’s each league’s football playoff record over the past three seasons (including this year):

Palomar (9-4), City Central (9-6), Avocado (7-5), 3-A Grossmont (7-5), 2-A Grossmont (1-1), Metro-Mesa (5-6), City Western (3-6), Metro-South Bay (2-4), City Eastern (1-7).

More numbers: Which areas have the strongest athletes?

The North County seems to have the advantage, at least after comparing playoff records in football, basketball and baseball since the fall of 1984.

The records: Avocado (22-11), Palomar (18-10), Grossmont (12-13), City Eastern (12-14), Metro-South Bay (8-11), City Central (10-14), City Western (9-13), Metro-Mesa (9-14).

North County schools also have won the most San Diego Section championships in those sports during that time.

The Avocado and Palomar leagues lead with three titles each. El Camino of the Avocado League won titles in football (1984) and basketball (1986) and Oceanside won in basketball (1985). Poway of the Palomar League won titles in basketball (1985 and 1986) and Vista won in football (1985). Seven other leagues had one team each win a title.

Still, a school in the South Bay has sent the most teams into the playoffs.

Sweetwater, which has qualified for the playoffs six times in the three sports: football (1984-86), basketball (1985-86) and baseball (1986).

Mind games: Gene Edwards, in his 29th season as La Jolla football coach, takes his 9-2 team to the 2-A semifinals Friday against Oceanside. How does this team compare to his others?

“It’s good, but I’ve had 1-8 teams here that were just as good,” Edwards said.

“In my mind, the success of your team is based on how hard it plays,” he said. “I’ve had teams with outstanding records that didn’t work hard. My favorite teams are the ones that play the hardest. That’s all I ask of my kids.”