Parmalee Sight for Sore Dolphin Eyes : Miami: Third-year running back solves problem with contact lens, then totals 30 carries for 150 yards.

Only one thing could stop Bernie Parmalee on Sunday. And it wasn’t the Raiders, or the humidity, or an expanded workload.

It was a contact lense.

Parmalee, who had a total of 10 carries in his previous two seasons with the Miami Dolphins before this year, carried 30 times Sunday for 150 yards in leading the Dolphins to a 20-17 overtime victory over the Raiders.

It might not have even been that close if Parmalee, a third-year running back out of Ball State, hadn’t had a problem with one of his contact lenses after gaining nine yards on the first play of Miami’s second drive of the game.

Out came Parmalee to fix the problem.

In came Mark Higgs.

On the next play, Higgs fumbled, defensive end Anthony Smith picking up the ball and going into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game.

With his vision back in focus, Parmalee returned to focus on the Raiders.

Not only did the 5-foot-11, 205-pounder come back to gain the most yards by a Dolphin back since Sammie Smith rushed for 159 yards against the New England Patriots in 1990, but Parmalee was also a star on special teams.

He knocked Rocket Ismail out of the game in the second quarter with a tackle that left the Raider receiver with a concussion.

And, when Tim Brown fumbled at the end of the third quarter giving Miami the possession that led to the game-tying touchdown, guess who recovered?

Parmalee.

He also gained 45 of the 65 yards the Dolphins amassed in the overtime drive that led to Pete Stoyanovich’s winning field goal.

For his efforts, Parmalee received two game balls, one for offense and one for special teams.

He loved the extra work.

“It feels good,” he said, “because, when you’re out there, you want everyone to have confidence in you. They just kept giving me the ball and I was just doing everything I could to get a good feel for the game.”

It was Parmalee’s second consecutive start. He gained 91 yards on 15 carries a week ago against the Buffalo Bills in his bid to prove that he could take over for fellow back Terry Kirby, sidelined because of a season-ending knee injury.

The Dolphins weren’t so sure. They recently signed former Ram running back Cleveland Gary as insurance. “I told them that I can get it done,” Parmalee said, “when we have to have it.”

The last couple of years on the bench have not been easy.

“Sometimes,” he said, “it seemed disconcerting. But I was always a firm believer that, if you hang in there and continue to work hard, good things happen.”

Good things happened to Parmalee on Sunday at least partly because defensive lineman Chester McGlockton left the game in the third quarter when the bruised left shoulder that had bothered him all week flared up again.

“It was definitely worse,” McGlockton said. “If I would have continued to play, I would have embarrassed myself and my team.”

McGlockton said he was also bothered by a bruised leg.

It was a busy day for the Raider trainers.

In addition to the injuries to Ismail and McGlockton, cornerback Lionel Washington suffered bruised ribs, offensive lineman Gerald Perry an injured right ankle and receiver Tim Brown had leg cramps so bad in the humid weather that he had to receive intravenous fluid after the game.

“I shouldn’t have been in,” Brown said of the final minutes of regulation play. “On the last (catch), my legs locked up so bad, I just fell to the ground.”

The last time Brown suffered cramps that severe was in 1987, when he played here for visiting Notre Dame against the University of Miami.

“I don’t know what it is about this Miami weather,” Brown said. “You feel great at the beginning, but, by the end, you fall apart.”

Unless you are Bernie Parmalee.