Palisade’s offensive line bullied Central for much of the game and that allowed for Palisade’s dynamic running game to chop up a defense that wore down as the game went on.

“It’s been a few years … We had won, like, nine straight,” Palisade coach Joe Ramunno said. “It’s good for us to get back on to the basis that we’re built on.”

It was clear how much it meant to them. Palisade huddled and held up the elusive WarDog trophy, posed for a photo and then went into the locker room with Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” playing.

Palisade (3-2) had multiple scoring drives that ate more than five minutes off the clock.

Cade Carter and Caleb Johnson are the Bulldogs’ bruisers who can rumble for those dirty three and four-yard ones. They did that efficiently on Friday, which opened up the flashy runs from Easton Embrey and Carter Hayward, and the occasional run from quarterback Branson Springer.

“We got a good mix. It’s team ball, that’s what we’re going to built on now,” Ramunno said. “It’s just Palisade football, it’s what we’re trying to get back to.”

Central (1-4) did its best to keep up but, with many of its best athletes, the defense struggled to keep pace.

Embrey’s quickness set up the first Palisade score.

Embrey took a pitch on a 3rd and 7. A demon on the basepaths for the baseball team, Embrey turned upfield for a 19-yard run. Palisade seemingly ran then ran the same play and Embrey rattled off nine yards. That spread out the defense and helped Carter power his way for a 12-yard touchdown run.

“He’s so versatile, he can do so many things,” Ramunno said of Embrey, who had a seven-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. “We’re going to have to use him more and more, but we gotta be able to do that with Carter (Hayward) and your power runners.”

The Warriors often took one step forward and two steps back.

Their response to Carter’s touchdown took them to the Bulldogs’ 44-yard line. Asher Carter was cooking after scrambling for 36 yards on three plays. But he threw a pass too high and right into the hands of Nathan Umberger, who took it 61 yards to the house.

River Westcott hit a 30-yard field goal in the second quarter to put Central on the board.

The Warriors again got in their own way late in the first half

Including a kick return, Palisade committed five penalties on its final full drive of the first half. But Central committed an encroachment and helmet-to-helmet penalties to keep Palisade’s drive alive. Though Central eventually ended the drive with a fumble recovery, it only did so after nearly three minutes of game time and left the offense with 52 seconds to work with.

Central went three-and-out and the half ended after one more Palisade run.

Palisade kept rolling in the second half. Caleb Johnson scored from a yard out in the third quarter and from seven yards out in the fourth, and the defense notched another interception.

Central’s brightest spot on offense came from Carter, who kept plays or made them out of nothing with his athleticism, and receiver Jaime Padilla. The junior had eight catches for 85 yards. He has 443 receiving yards this season.

The win gets Palisade back on track after it lost to Durango 32-14 last week.

“Every week you go into it when you play tough teams, you hope it makes you tougher,” Rmaunno said. “I think our guys, we played as a team tonight and that’s the big thing. We’re not worried about who’s getting the credit, we’re just getting things done.”

Palisade crosses the pass next week to play Summit (2-2) in Frisco on October 3. Central opens North 2 Conference play at home against Adams City (1-4) on October 3.