Don’t Sell These Guys Short

Jason Lance, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound tight end for the Valencia High football team, caught a pass over the middle and was running straight at Mickey Mercado, a 5-5, 140-pound strong safety.

The impending collision looked to be a mismatch, a a Humvee versus a Volkswagen.

Except Mercado didn’t flinch. He hit Lance in the legs and down he went, like Humpty Dumpty taking a big fall.

Just another example that size doesn’t matter in high school football.

“He has a low center of gravity,” said a Newhall Hart teammate of Mercado’s, 6-5, 240-pound defensive tackle Chris Frome. “If you’re not watching, he’ll take your feet out from under you. He’s an ankle biter. I’ve never seen him miss an open tackle.”

There are small football players making big contributions on varsity rosters throughout Southern California.

From the time they show up and ask to play, they are underestimated, even laughed at.

They’re nicknamed “Mighty Mouse” or “Rudy.”

Give them a chance and they’ll prove they can play, especially if they possess speed, quickness and, most importantly, a big heart.

Unbeaten Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s starting nose guard is 5-5, 150-pound senior Ryan Diez. Sometimes he’s 100 pounds lighter than the center blocking him.

It’s difficult to take Diez seriously, considering he wears size 61/2 shoes.

But he has five sacks this season and takes great joy in having centers get chewed out by their line coaches for failing to take him out of a play.

Yes, Diez thinks of suffocation when one or two of those big linemen happen to fall on top of him.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “They’re so heavy. I have to lay there. There’s not much I can do.”

There is one promise he makes. “I’m not letting them run me over, that’s for sure,” he said.

Mike Lopez is the starting nose tackle at Woodland Hills Taft, and, at 5-1, 150 pounds, he’s even smaller than Diez.

Isn’t he afraid of being a foot smaller and 150 pounds lighter than some of the blockers?

“It’s no problem for me,” he said. “In practice, I hit against all the linemen. A lot of the coaches, they look at me [like], ‘Dang, you’re small to play nose tackle.’ Usually, after games, they give me a lot of respect. I don’t have any doubts at all. I’ve always been a good football player and a good hitter.”

At Santa Barbara, starting receiver Elmer Ornelas is 5-2, 130 pounds. He can get lost on a football field.

“Sometimes I have to jump up and down and wave my hands,” he said.

Defensive backs must be wary because he’s fast off the line and makes clutch catches. Those who take him lightly end up paying a price.

“I don’t have time to look at them to see if they’re laughing,” he said. “I say in my head, ‘I’m short, but they don’t know what’s coming at them.’ ”

Coach Craig Moropoulos never hesitates to call a key play for Ornelas. “He’s started every game for us and made catches in crucial times,” he said. “He’s very strong for his height. He’s not the kind of guy to push around.”

At Downey, Alex Garces is a 5-3, 150-pound running back and linebacker who enjoys contact and fears no one.

“A pulling guard put me on my butt, but you have to get back up,” he said. “To me, size doesn’t really matter. There are big kids out there scared to hit. They’re big and clumsy and if you hit them in the right place, they’ll fall.”

There’s a legitimate concern that small players are more susceptible to injury. The starting quarterback at Downey, 5-3, 122-pound sophomore Stanley Franks, broke his arm when he was hit while attempting a pass.

“One of my colleagues at school claimed it was child abuse to start the kid, jokingly,” Coach Grant Warhurst said. “But he’s a tough kid and he wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Mercado’s mother, Cecilia, never considered not letting him play football. “I love it,” she said.

Since he was 5, Mercado has been playing the sport. And every year, there’s somebody who wonders if he’s too small. “It just makes me work harder,” he said.

Mercado leads unbeaten Hart in tackles with 53. He also is the Indians’ starting tailback after Tim Gregory broke his leg last week against Valencia.

Mercado uses skills learned in wrestling to help him take down bigger players in football.

“You have to overcome the fear factor,” he said. “If someone is bigger than you, you have to take them right on. You can’t just arm tackle.”

Frome, who has accepted a scholarship to Notre Dame, explains why Mercado is so effective: “Pound for pound, he’s one of the strongest on the team,” he said. “I should be able to take him out, but he packs a punch.”

Asked if he could take down Frome in a wrestling match, Mercado said, “I could, I know I could.”

Like a scorpion, the smallest players on a football team must be treated with respect. They can have a sting as potent as anyone.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com