tool name

Monday, Dec. 07, 2009

No juice left in Le Grand football star’s legs

ROSEVILLE -- Popeye had his spinach. Sampson had his hair.

Bob Perez thought he had his own magic potion.

A mixture of Gatorade and Pedialyte had helped the Le Grand junior remain cramp-free all season.

However, Perez's kryptonite returned at the wrong time.

Perez's calf began to cramp in the second quarter against Capital Christian in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship game on Saturday night. Perez, a starting fullback and middle linebacker, did everything he could to play through the pain.

But in the third quarter, it became too much.

Perez finally collapsed to the turf and laid flat on his back while the Le Grand coaching staff stretched and massaged his leg. He was ultimately carried off the field.

Perez took a seat on the bench next to fellow running back Tony Ortegon, who had sprained his ankle late in the third quarter.

With two of its top offensive weapons sidelined -- along with defensive end/tight end Alex Martinez also going in and out of the lineup with an injury -- there was no Band-Aid big enough for Le Grand.

Capital Christian scored 28 straight points in the second half to erase a 14-point halftime deficit, denying Le Grand its first-ever blue banner.

"We just don't have the depth and the horses to rebound from that," said Le Grand coach Rick Martinez. "It's ironic. Bob had been drinking his Pedialyte and Gatorade and hasn't been bothered by cramps all year.

"Then he cramps up tonight. The thing is I'm sure he feels like he let him team down because he wasn't out there. That's why it's great to have a kid like that. He gave us everything he had from the top of his head down to the bottom of his feet. And he still feels like he let us down."

Quite the contrary.

Players like Perez are the reason why the Le Grand faithful left Oakmont High feeling good about their hometown heroes.

It seemed like all of Le Grand and Planada showed up to watch their boys bring home the section title. The three-hour drive to Roseville hardly served as a deterrent.

There was the Yanez family, who rented a Via bus and piled in 47 family member and friends. Other fans made the trip early Saturday morning and tailgated in the parking lot.

There appeared to be more Le Grand fans in the stands than Capital Christian, which is located just down the road in Sacramento.

The green and gold mob had reason to cheer early.

Le Grand came out hitting and set the tone with its physical play. Perez and Ortegon both scored touchdowns on the ground to help Le Grand build a 21-7 lead by intermission.

Then Le Grand's momentum disappeared.

Capital Christian stopped Le Grand 1 yard short on a fourth-down play. Capital quarterback James Lee then hooked up with David Oates on a long pass play. A couple plays later, Lee scored on a 4-yard run.

Le Grand fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Capital Christian soon pulled even at 21-21.

Moments later, Perez and Ortegon were on the bench and the game quickly got away from Le Grand.

Perez heroically returned to the game late in the fourth quarter. However, there wasn't much he could do at that point to stop Capital Christian.

When three of your top players go down, there's not much you can do. That's the reality of high school football.

Unfortunately, there's no magic potion for that.

Shawn Jansen is a Sun-Star sports reporter. He can be reached at 385-2462 or via e-mail at sjansen@mercedsun-star.com.