PALM DESERT — The home field advantage didn’t seem to matter after all.

Unhappy that it had to travel for the game, East Los Angeles College took out its frustration on College of the Desert by rolling to a 63-37 victory in the Patriotic Bowl Nov. 19 in Palm Desert.

After winning the American Division Metro League title and posting an 8-2 record under first-year coach Bobby Godinez, ELAC learned that 6-4 Desert, which finished in a three-way tie for the Mountain League title, would host the game based on strength of schedule.

The Huskies rolled into postseason by outscoring their final six opponents, 266-103, and the 115-mile bus ride didn’t slow them down as they raced ahead to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Quarterback Jonathan Santos ran for a touchdown and threw for another, and Shaquille Shelton scored on a three-yard run.

It appeared the Huskies were on their way to another blowout victory. But Desert quarterback De’Abrie Smith, who had missed the past five games with an injury, rallied his team back. Smith threw a pair of 32-yard touchdown passes to Anthony Ellison and Reginald Macon.

But back came the Huskies with Santos teaming with Kenny Allen on a 52-yard touchdown pass.

The score didn’t discourage or stop the Roadrunners, who responded with a 23-point flurry in which they took advantage of two interceptions. Down, 28-14, Desert used field goals of 34 and 29 yards by Ethan Skarmas, the latter coming as time expired in the first half, to leave the field trailing 28-20.

“We had game-planned for [Darius Hulsey and Kamone Best] the quarterbacks who had played while Smith was out, but he ended up coming in — and he is really good,” Godinez said. “He’s a dual threat and he added another dimension to their offense.”

Desert took the lead 37-28 in the third quarter, on 83- and 65-yard scoring drives and a 27-yard field goal by Skarmas.

But on what was arguably the biggest play in a game filled with them, Santos connected with Branden Peterson on a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage after the ensuing kickoff. It was Peterson’s only reception of the game.

The strike triggered a scoring onslaught by the Huskies, who scored 35 unanswered points, while shutting down Desert’s offense.

“We were able to make some adjustments to our game plan and recover from their run,” Godinez said. “Desert played and fought really hard the whole game, but we were resilient and overcame a run from a good team that we knew was going to come at some point.”

Santos, who was named the game’s most valuable player, threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to give him five for the game as the Huskies won it going away. Santos threw to Allen for a 28-yard score and hit Khamren Davenport twice on plays that covered 17 and 10 yards.

“Winning a bowl game is a great feeling and I’m humbled to be part of this team,” Davenport said.

Levi Wells relieved Santos and hit Allen on a 10-yard TD pass with 5:28 to close out the scoring as the Huskies went on to finish the season 9-2. ELAC appeared in a bowl game for only the fifth time in school history and first since 2011. The Huskies have won three of the five.

Santos, a sophomore who prepped at South East High School in South Gate, completed 21 of 29 passes for 366 yards and six touchdowns.

Allen had four receptions for 122 yards and three touchdowns. Davenport had four receptions for 62 yards and two touchdowns, and Cemaj Douglas also had four catches for 37 yards. Kyeree Wallace caught a team-high five passes for 55 yards.

“We worked hard all year to win league, win the bowl game, go 9-2 and finish on top,” Douglas said. “I love my team.”

Running back Shiloh Jordan led the Huskies with 44 yards on 10 rushing attempts and three receptions for 13 yards.

Up front on the offensive line providing the pass protection for Santos and paving running lanes for Jordan were tackles Francis Bongwalanga, Juan Gonzalez, Antonio Saucedo and Mitchell Torres; guards Arnulfo Robles, Eric Jones and Malachi Morehead, and center John Flores.

Defensively, the Huskies were led by linebackers Elijah Quarles with 13 total tackles and Anthony Perez with 10. Safety Joey Knowles made nine solo tackles and was in on three others. Tackle Imani Mitchell and safety Bordrick were credited with nine total tackles and Anthony Figueroa made eight.

Safety Ryan Ausbrooks finished the game with five solo tackles, including two sacks, a fumble recovery he returned 32 yards, and a pass breakup.