SAN JOSE >> Ronnie Palmer thought about it for a brief moment, paused and offered a unique answer to being undefeated at the mid-point of the football season.

“I don’t know how I feel about it because there is still a lot to improve upon,” the Monterey Peninsula College coach said. “It’s new ground being 5-0. I don’t like being comfortable.”

Being in uncharted territory did create a nice bus ride home Saturday as the Lobos began their quest for a fourth straight American Golden Coast Conference title with a 23-10 win at San Jose City College.

While MPC can’t seem to get a sniff in the latest JC Athletic Bureau State Top 25 poll, it is now one of just five teams in the state that is still undefeated.

“I like pressure,” said Palmer, a former linebacker at Arizona. “I’m going to put pressure on our guys to compete at a high level. We will enjoy tonight, wake up and go to church and start figuring out how to protect our house next week.”

The Lobos will host West Hills next Saturday — the only team that has beaten Palmer in conference play since his arrival when it scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull out a 21-17 win at MPC.

“I remember the losses more than the wins,” Palmer said.

The Lobos are 16-1 in conference play since Palmer took the reins four years ago, stretching its winning streak over San Jose to eight.

“That’s a good team we faced,” Palmer said. “Usually, we’re meeting at the end of the year with something at stake. They made us adjust our game plan tonight.”

After struggling in the first half of their first two road games this fall, the Lobos’ defense set the tone in the first quarter when Hollister product Jayde Freidt had a pick-six to give them a 6-0 lead.

“We sort of got off to a decent start,” Palmer said. “We still punted on our first drive. San Jose gave us some matchup problems. We didn’t have as many creases in the run game. We had to adjust.”

In fact, at one point, the Lobos were down 7-6 before running off the game’s next 17 points behind a tenacious defense and the arm of quarterback Eric Gibson.

The LSU transfer hooked up with tight end Jesus Maciel on a touchdown in which the Alisal graduate carried two tacklers into the end zone, then found Division I prospect Devin Ellison on a 78-yard scoring strike.

“Looking at the Siskiyous film, we didn’t come out the way we wanted last week,” Palmer said. “I can make excuses. But they’re are just excuses. The 1-0 mentality is plan, practice and prepare. That is what this past week was about.”

The Jaguars came into the game 3-1, with their only setback coming against Redwoods, which MPC beat for the first time in three years in the regular season three weeks ago.

“It was important to stop their all-conference running back,” Palmer said. “We needed to put them in more lower percentage passing downs. We had an aggressive game plan.”

Palmer was speaking about the Jaguars’ tailback Jesse R Lajes, who was held to 66 yards a week after rushing for 117 yards in a win over Cabrillo.

“A lot of guys were in new positions, partly due to injuries,” Palmer said. “And we got some guys back. Everyone that traveled, found some action. Our guys were excited.”

Determined not to let the states leading rusher in Kieryus Boone beat them on the ground, San Jose stacked the box, almost daring the Lobos to throw the ball.

Gibson took it to heart, throwing for 230 yards for MPC. Boone, who came into the game averaging a state-leading 155.5 yards a game, was held to a season-low 56 yards in 14 carries.

Nick Tsaboukso had a big night on defense for MPC with a pair of interceptions, while Roger Guillory added a pick. Jkai Thomas led the team in tackles with nine, while Kefa Pereira added eight tackles and a sack.

Hartnell 36, Yuba 13

There were signs over the past two weeks that the Panthers were close to turning a corner after an injury-plagued start to the campaign.

Holding a lead in their past two games, finishing became the challenge for a roster littered with 40-plus freshman getting acclimated to college football.

“We saw the steps every week,” Hartnell coach Ruben Lerma said. “There aren’t too many moral victories. We reminded them each week we’re getting better, no matter what the scoreboard says.”

The growing pains are still there. Yet, for one game, the Panthers were boarding a bus in a celebratory mood after snapping a seven-game losing streak that dated back to last season with a win at Yuba.

“We needed to learn to play for each other,” Lerma said. “It is a team full of rivals from other high schools. It’s a new system, there’s the speed of the game. It’s part of the process.”

Hartnell (1-4) was also in the inevitable position of replacing arguably one of the top players in the conference two quarters into the year when quarterback Adam Shaffer suffered a knee injury.

Turning to Carlos Galvez after Dominic Chavez went out with an injury, the former Hollister signal caller looked sharp, tossing three touchdown passes, two to Salinas High graduate Isaiah Durate.

“He’s still learning,” Lerma said. “But he came in and gave us a spark. As the game went on, we decided to stay with the hot hand. The good news is Dominic was fine. It enabled us to put him back at the position he came here to play as a receiver.”

Staring at a seven-point deficit to open the game, the Panthers ran off 36 straight points, using a pick-six from Elijah Perkins to put the game out of reach late in the third quarter.

For Hartnell, it’s the second pick-six its defense has recorded in as many games, as Jacob Peinado produced a touchdown off a pick last week in a loss to Gavilan.

“Special teams were also big for us tonight,” said Lerma whose Panthers will travel to Merced next Saturday. “The offense came alive. Now let’s keep it rolling.”

Galvez also connected with Marina produce JJ Willis on a 22-yard scoring toss, while North Salinas product Justin Pascone got the scoring started with a 9-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

“We were a tenacious group on the defensive side,” Lerma said. “We were all over the ball. A lot of guys made plays. The defense has been carrying this year. Now the offense is playing like we envisioned.”