Defense Boasts a String of Shutouts for the Red Hot Panthers

The Masuk High School football team seems ready for anything as they prepare for a critical game against SWC foe Brookfield (2-1) on Friday.

The undefeated Panthers (3-0) steamrolled New Fairfield (0-3) 47-0 last Friday behind the punishing rushing of junior Colin Markus and a Masuk defense that has yet to yield a point this season.

Markus ran for 145 yards on five carries and scored three touchdowns against the Rebels, leading Masuk coach John Murphy to praise his often-overlooked running back.

"I've said it before that [junior quarterback Casey Cochran] gets all the headlines and everything and he is a tremendous player, but Colin is not too far behind," Murphy said. "He broke a whole bunch of tackles in that game. He's just been excellent."

Markus also snared a 19-yard scoring pass from Cochran, who posted three scores on 12-for-19 passing for 164 yards.

The only thing that overshadowed the impressive work of Markus and the Masuk offense was the Panthers' defense. The only points scored against the Panthers this year was a defensive score by New Milford in the first game of the year.

The Panthers have made it hard on opposing offenses with the aggressive play of senior co-captain Anthony Calabrese at linebacker and classmate Tim Allen at defensive end. Senior nose guard Jerry Peck has excelled at crushing opponents' running attacks.

"They have shut out three straight teams now and that is impressive," Murphy said. "It is early, but this might be the highest level of defense that we have ever played. They are just so fast that no one has been able to run on us and when we get them in situations where they have to throw, our pressure has been relentless."

Cochran opened up the game against New Fairfield with a 24-yard scoring pass to Tyler Perimenis then Markus quickly turned the game into a blowout with a 20-yard scoring run and the scoring pass from Cochran.

Masuk kicker Jon Testani was successful on all six extra point attempts and booted a 48-yard field goal to put Masuk up 24-0 in the first quarter.

Markus started the second quarter with a 63-yard scoring run followed by a 21-yard scoring strike from Cochran to junior receiver Brandon Cusmano.

The Masuk defense got in on the onslaught when Allen posted a safety and Markus turned out the lights with a 61-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Murphy said the dominating start has his players' confidence up, but they are not relaxing.

"The team feels good," he said. "They know we have some real big challenges ahead. I think they are doing a good job staying focused at the task at hand and we know we have big challenge this Friday with Brookfield. The attitude at practice has been great. We come out and just keep trying to get better. I think we all believe we can play better than we've played."