After Perlas Gets the Call, He Steps Into the Spotlight

Alan Perlas planned all along to be at the Orange County All-Star football game. He just didn’t expect to be so close to the action.

“I was going to go to the game with my friends to watch,” Perlas said.

Instead, his friends watched him.

Perlas, a standout running back from Capistrano Valley High School, was added to the South team three weeks ago. He made the most of the opportunity by helping the South to a 22-6 victory Friday night at Orange Coast College.

Perlas gained 60 yards in 10 carries, including a 20-yard touchdown run, and was named the offensive player of the game.

“He certainly was a good pick-up,” South Coach Bruce Rollinson said.

Perlas, who will play at Saddleback this year, said he was some-what disappointed when the all-star roster was announced and he was not included. After all, he had gained 1,050 yards and scored 13 touchdowns for the Cougars last fall.

He was on Rollinson’s short list as an alternate, thanks to Capistrano Valley Coach Eric Patton--a teammate of Rollinson’s at Mater Dei in the 1960s.

“Eric told me if there was any way to get Alan on the team, that I should grab him,” Rollinson said. “We made him first alternate.”

When Laguna Hills’ running back David Webber quit the team, Rollinson had his chance.

“The phone rang one day and I just knew it was Coach Rollinson,” Perlas said. “Coach Patton had told me to be ready.”

He was Friday.

With the South leading, 3-0, in the second quarter, Perlas took over. He gained 14 yards on the first play of the drive.

Then, one play later, swept to the right and apparently disappeared under a pile of bodies. He emerged untouched ran 20 yards for a touchdown.

“I got to the sideline and stopped,” Perlas said. “But nobody touched me. Then a hole opened and I took off.”

Said Rollinson: “I never saw him. I thought he’d stepped out of bounds.”

Perlas had 42 yards in five carries by halftime. He had runs of seven, seven and six yards in the second half--the latter of which he gained after he bounced off two North defenders and kept on going.

“It was a lot of fun out there tonight,” Perlas said. “Especially since I could have been in the stands.”