Palmer improved to 2-0 in Midwest West play Saturday with a 30-26 defeat of Metropolis in Minneapolis. The Dragons led 25-14 at intermission, but allowed the home team to take control in the second half.

“We were kind of dominating the first half, kind of go, go, go, and then I don’t know what happened second half,” said Palmer player/coach Jarod Selby. “We just kind of let off the horses and they just dominated…They were all over us.”

Selby said that contrary to tradition, Palmer’s advantage in the first half was gained in large part by its pack.

“Our setpieces were actually a lot better than they were previously against Minnesota. Minnesota’s got sort of a big, heavy pack, and in previous years they’ve undone us in the forwards, but our forwards did a good job of getting the backs the ball and winning our setpieces and allowing us to get the ball more than one or two phases. I think that’s what worked for us in the first half.”

Though Palmer’s play descended in the last 40 minutes, it was a setpiece play that setup what would prove to be the winning score. Selby dotted down midway through the second half after a center switch off of a scrum created an overload for the fullback on the wing. Unconverted, the try gave Palmer their only score after intermission.

Metropolis surged back and scored a try at the death to make the final score of 30-26.

“To tell you the truth we were kind of lucky the game ended then because they were all over us,” Selby said.

The loss drops Metropolis to 0-1 on the season. The Minneapolis club goes on the road to play also 0-1 Milwaukee Sept. 10.

Up next for Palmer is a home contest against the Chicago Lions, who are also 2-0.