Hill’s Quest Put on Hold Once Again : Prep football: Santa Ana coach still one victory short of county record after Capistrano Valley wins, 17-7.

It was a big night for Capistrano Valley running back Alan Perlas, who put Santa Ana football Coach Dick Hill’s quest for that elusive 192nd victory on hold for another week.

Perlas led the Cougars (2-3) to a 17-7 nonleague victory over the Saints with 184 yards rushing in 22 carries in front of a homecoming crowd of 1,900 Friday night at Capistrano Valley High School.

Hill, who has been trying to eclipse former Loara coach Herb Hill’s 191 career victories to become the winningest high school football coach in Orange County history, has been stymied since the ninth week of last season. He watched his team fall to 0-5.

“None of the 191 wins has been easy,” Hill said. “I’ll tell you, I’m a lot more frustrated because this is a fine football team and we’re not winning. Every team we’ve played has been a good team and we’ve been a step away from winning.

Capistrano Valley’s special teams got the Cougars off to a good start when Grant Hibbs broke through to block Hector Perez’s second-quarter punt, and the Cougars recovered the ball on the Saint seven-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Scott Patton scored on a one-yard sneak and kicked the extra point.

Patton gave the Cougars a 14-0 lead after a 12-yard Saint punt put Capistrano Valley on the Santa Ana 46-yard line. On the second play, Patton found wide receiver Jackie Conners wide open for a 46-yard scoring pass.

Santa Ana came back with a 75-yard scoring drive. Quarterback Joey Martinez hit wide receiver Terry Annu with a 37-yard pass to the Cougar 29. Four plays later, Kevin Pola scored from the one and Jorge Perez kicked the conversion to narrow the gap to 14-7 at halftime.

Patton gave the Cougars some breathing room with 10:38 left in the game with a 35-yard field goal.