MONTEREY >> Nearly 45 minutes after the stadium lights had been dimmed, football players for Monterey Peninsula College were still in the parking lot tailgating with alumni and family.

A tradition that began four years ago continues to grow in popularity as the potential of an historic year is starting to come into focus for the Lobos’ football program.

“We’re allowed to feed the players after home games,” MPC head coach Ronnie Palmer said. “The tailgating has kind of grown over the last few years with more alumni coming back.”

While perfection seems miles down the road, the Lobos are leaving no stone unturned, improving to 8-0 Saturday after a 68-0 rout of Hartnell in the 76th Presidents Cup.

Owners of six straight wins in the Monterey-Salinas Highway rivalry, the reigning three-time American Golden Coast Conference champion Lobos still trail overall in the series 41-34-1.

“Rivalry games are very unclear,” Palmer said. “There is a lot of irregular stuff that can go on from passion to wild plays. That was the challenge all week. I thought we had our best week of practice. I wasn’t shocked to see us come out with fire.”

Before the Panthers even produced a first down, they were staring at a 34-0 deficit in the first quarter as quarterback Eric Gibson lit up the night sky with a 65-yard touchdown pass to Devin Ellison on the game’s first play.

“We can play better,” insisted Palmer. “We had a lot of penalties. There were some situations where we wanted to execute and we didn’t. That’s me wanting to be a perfectionist. It was hard to keep our attention to detail when a team is struggling like that.”

Part of those struggles had to do with the Lobos’ defense, anchored by Kefu Pereira, who was a beast in the trenches, stuffing the Panthers’ running game, with Palma graduate Ryan Sanders picking up the team’s 18th interception of the season.

“Anytime you can shut out a team, it’s impressive,” said Palmer, whose squad recorded their first shutout of the season, while going over 60 points for the third time this season.

The Lobos, who came into the game plus-13 in turnover ratio, never allowed Hartnell to get past midfield, holding them scoreless for the first time this season.

“It starts with how we practice,” Palmer said. “We work on putting our guys in position to make plays. I encourage them to play fast and free. When technique meets opportunity, a lot of great things happen.”

Ellison, who came into the game second in the state in touchdown catches with 11, added three more to his resume, finishing with four catches for 93 yards.

LSU transfer Eric Gibson put together arguably his best night as a Lobo, completing 12-of-19 passes for 236 yards and a career-high five touchdowns, including one to Marina product Julius Robinson.

What has enhanced the Lobos passing game this fall is the improvement of tailback Kieryus Boone, who went over 100 yards on the ground for the sixth time this year.

“There’s a lot of trust in that offensive line,” Palmer said. “I think a lot of teams forget where it starts. It’s great to have the numbers and stats. But you can’t have that if you don’t have the blocking and protection.”

Boone, who is second in the state in rushing, went over 1,000 yards after a 137-yard, one touchdown effort, while teammate Ethan Williams added another 53 yards on the ground. Darius Garrard registered his first collegiate touchdown.

“I’ve learned from my mistakes as a coach,” Palmer said. “Each year we’ve grown and evolved our team in all three phases of the game. There’s a lot of leadership in positions. Our players trust our coaches. It’s a lot of fun when it’s like that.”

Having had a knack for producing points on defense, special teams provided a touchdown for MPC in the second quarter when Nakoa Villanueva returned a punt 48 yards for six.

The Lobos, who visit Merced next Saturday, are 19-1 in conference play since Palmer took the reins of a program just before the pandemic struck, losing an entire season.

“You don’t look at the end, even if you see a little light at the end of the tunnel,” Palmer said. “It’s fun to see us grow up, make the corrections and battle. Not every game will be like this one. The record never tells the whole story.”

Chris Phillips and Isias Morin were bright spots for the Panthers (1-7) defense, combining for 15 tackles, while Elijah Perkins broke up a pair of passes.