Perlas Propels Capistrano Valley : Football: Running back rushes for 253 yards, five touchdowns as Cougars crush El Toro, 47-27.

His work done, running back Alan Perlas screamed encouragement at the Capistrano Valley substitutes in the waning minutes of the Cougars’ 47-27 South Coast League victory over El Toro Friday night at Capistrano Valley.

“Look at that,” quarterback Scott Patton said to Perlas, pointing at the scoreboard. “That’s sweet.”

Patton could thank Perlas, and the Cougars’ offense, for an easy victory. Running through huge holes, Perlas rushed for a career-high 253 yards and five touchdowns in 27 carries. He scored on runs of 56, eight, 12, six and 16 yards.

“We flat out beat ‘em,” said Patton, who threw for 101 yards and ran for 67 more. “I’ve never seen so many big holes. Actually, we were going to pass tonight, but if you don’t have to why do it?”

Said Perlas: “The offensive line did great. I love it. It’s a great feeling.”

Capistrano Valley (4-3, 2-0 in league) got started early. El Toro (3-4, 1-1) stayed close for a while, but faded in the second half.

The first half ended with Capistrano Valley ahead, 33-19, and featured a game’s worth of offense. Neither defense seemed capable of stopping the opposing offense.

The statistics and the scoring summary told the story best.

Perlas, who came into the game averaging 90 yards, had 147 yards and three touchdowns in 15 carries in the first half alone. Patton had 101 yards and one touchdown, and set up Perlas’ eight-yard touchdown run with a 51-yard flea-flicker to Jackie Conners.

Patton handed the ball to Perlas, who had already shredded El Toro’s defense for a 56-yard scoring run. Perlas then flipped the ball back to Patton, who found Conners open behind the El Toro defense.

Capistrano Valley led, 14-0, having run only five plays from scrimmage. Patton added a 37-yard field goal for a 17-0 Capistrano Valley lead with 2 minutes 2 seconds left in the first quarter.

It took El Toro less than a minute to respond with the first of several big plays that kept the Chargers close early. Quarterback Bill McFadden hit Jason Bailey for a 67-yard touchdown pass.

Perlas added to Capistrano Valley’s lead with a 12-yard touchdown run. But Pat McAdam intercepted a pass by Patton and returned it 59 yards for a score.

Later, Bailey caught a lateral from McFadden and threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Wade Jackson.

At that point, El Toro seemed to have climbed back into contention, trailing, 25-19, with 2:17 left in the second quarter.

But Patton used the remaining time to move Capistrano Valley 63 yards in 10 plays for yet another touchdown--this one a 20-yard scoring pass to Conners. Patton added a two-point conversion run.