Palmer wins homecoming thriller with big third quarter

By Travis M. Smith | KBEC Sports 

A huge third quarter and even bigger defensive stand continued the perfect start to the football season for the Palmer Bulldogs. 

Of course, it also made for quite a memorable homecoming celebration, too. 

The Bulldogs entered the halftime locker room trailing 23-13, but even that score took an Adrian Cisneros touchdown pass with under one minute to play in the second quarter. It also likely served as the second-half spark that led to the come-from-behind win. 

The (3-0) Palmer defense forced a Millsap punt on the opening drive of the second half, which led to Cisneros connecting with Ben Waddles for a 27-yard touchdown with about eight minutes to play in the third quarter. The two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the Bulldogs trailing 23-19. 

Cisneros and the Palmer offense flipped the script three minutes and change later — thanks to the Bulldogs defense forcing a turnover on downs — when the quarterback scampered in for a rushing touchdown. The point-after-touchdown kick was good and put Palmer on top, 26-23. 

A fumble recovery by the Bulldogs then led to a second rushing touchdown for Cisneros in the second half and had Palmer up two scores, 33-23, with four minutes to play in the third quarter. 

Millsap eventually scored with a little over seven minutes to play in the ball game to pull within a field goal, 33-30, and then threatened with three minutes to play following a Cisneros interception. But the Bulldogs defense held strong once again to seal the victory. 

Cisneros finished with 242 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-26 passing (62%). He also threw two interceptions but added 10 carries for 22 yards and two rushing touchdowns. 

Carson Cisneros pulled in two of those touchdown passes on six catches for 50 yards, while Waddle added a game-high 132 yards and one touchdown on seven catches. 

Collin Graves led the Bulldogs defense with 12 total tackles, while Gaige Corey and Damian Gonzales each recorded eight total tackles and one tackle-for-loss. 

Gonzales added the lone Bulldog sack, while Carson Cisneros had one interception and Arturo Gonzalez forced a fumble. 

The Millsap offense was limited to 296 total yards. 

Plamer will enjoy a hard-earned bye week before traveling to Rice for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Friday, Sept. 27.

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Travis M. Smith, @Travis5mith

tsmith@kbec.com