Masuk Free Press

The Masuk Panthers were 1-2 coming into Friday night’s homecoming matchup against the New Milford Green Wave on 10.3. In desperate need of their first home win of the season, the Panther’s showed out dawning the pink theme in honor of ‘Think Pink’. The Panthers mutilated the Green Wave 49-7. 

After two heartbreakers for the Panthers the past two weeks, the squad looked to stay positive, feed off of their electric student section, and leave the past behind. 

“[The student section] has a positive impact on us, the kids are ready to go,” said Masuk head coach Chris Pace, “…we just kind of hit the reset bar and get right back at it.” 

The Panthers were set to receive the kick off first, and senior Mateo Pereira bolted up the left sideline, setting Masuk up in the red zone immediately. Junior quarterback Aaron Champagne then bolstered through the Green Wave’s defense, earning the first of seven total touchdowns of the night for the Panthers. That quick score was indicative of the entire game, as Masuk’s defense kept the Green Wave from any dream of offensive production. After the Panthers secured possession for the second time, it was sophomore running back Michael Charland taking a pass from Champagne 29 yards into the endzone. After yet another Green Wave stall on offense with huge tackles and forced incompletions by Masuk, Champagne ran another touchdown in for the Panthers, capping off a huge first quarter which saw them up 21-0.

The Panthers kept their foot on the gas into the second quarter, as there was quarterback to quarterback action. Champagne threw a pass to fellow sophomore backup Cole Henderson who barely missed out on the huge reception touchdown. However, on the very next play, Henderson snuck right into the endzone. The Green Wave still couldn’t make anything work on offense, as the Masuk defensive line prevented any forward advancement, and the secondary became a no fly zone as it was incomplete after incompletion. Champagne, now with the ball back in Masuk’s hands, rolled out to the left and delivered yet another touchdown, this time to senior wide receiver Ricardo Texaria in the back of the endzone for 32 yards. New Milford once again was unable to gain any traction, as they were getting swarmed left and right. The ball became Masuk’s once again, and this time Charland ran it 40 yards for another score. With the first half winding down, the Green Wave had one last chance to put some points on the board. However, Pereira shut that down as he intercepted the ball and ran it all the way back for 61 yards, and another score for the ultimate cherry on top. The Panthers were on pace to score 100 points, following the electrifying first half. 

As crazy as this sounds, the Green Wave actually beat the Panthers in the second half. Masuk took the majority of their starters out of the game, and the Panthers didn’t see the endzone in the second half. The Green Wave however finally broke through in the fourth quarter and scored on behalf of Grant Scalia, who ran it in from five yards out. 

“They played the football that we know that they can,” said Pace, “they really played well in all aspects of the game tonight.”

The Panthers ended up winning 49-7, and improved to 2-2. They will travel to Killingly on 10.17 in an attempt to stay on the prowl.