Masuk Wins the Battle of the Undefeateds

Masuk High School football coach John Murphy didn't need to say much to get his team fired up when it visited Bunnell High School Oct. 15. And the Panthers didn't need much time to turn the heated match-up between undefeated Southwest Conference rivals into a 45-0 rout.

Masuk (5-0) senior defensive back Joe Diaz picked off Bunnell quarterback Bryan Castelot on the third drive of the game and took the ball 22-yards for a touchdown.

The score grew to a 21-0 Panther halftime lead and Diaz again sparked Masuk to an even more productive second half with an 85-yard kickoff return on the opening kickoff of the third quarter.

Diaz's individual efforts were part of Masuk's overall domination of the Bulldogs (4-1) in practically every phase of the game.

"There were some sets of time where Bunnell was a better football team than we were," Murphy said. "Bunnell beat us five straight times straight in two years. They've beat us for a state championship, two league championships and they knocked us out of the state playoff once.

"I said to the kids before this game that every time we can beat them it is a little gift back to those guys that played back then. The history of our program is really important to the kids and they really respect the kids who played before them, so any time we can get a win against Bunnell it is important."

The lopsided victory was the third straight shutout for the Panthers' defense and a statement for the rest of the SWC as the Bulldogs' offense had amassed an impressive 199 points this season.

Kevin Costello and co-captains Anthony Calabrese and Tim Allen posted sacks and Nate Coleman had an interception.

"A lot of the credit goes to my defensive coordinator Chris Gueli," Murphy said. "He gets the defense ready to do what we want them to do, which is to create pressure and force teams to throw the ball quick. We're no going to let teams run the ball. That is the bottom line"

A runaway victory

The Panthers were just as determined to dominate on offense against Bunnell.
With the Bulldogs' defense playing just two linemen in order to contain Masuk junior quarterback Casey Cochran, the Panthers countered with junior running back Colin Markus.

The hard-running Markus punished Bunnell for 257 yards on 17 carries and a five-yard touchdown run.

Co-captain Joe Testani also got in on the rushing bonanza with a two-yard run in the first quarter and sophomore Thomas Milone tacked on 80 yards.

While held to just 155 yards in the air, Cochran scored a pair of two-yard touchdowns in the fourth quarter to seal the dominating win.

"Casey didn't have a huge day at quarterback, but they played a pretty funky defense against us where they had nine defensive backs/linebackers on the field because they wanted to make sure they stopped the pass," Murphy said. "They basically said to us, 'go run the ball,' so we did."

Along with Diaz's kick return score, the Masuk special teams also played big for the Panthers. Testani picked up a fumble on a fake punt attempt in the first quarter, hit a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter and converted all six extra point attempts.

"Special teams is something we take a lot of pride in and spend a lot of time on at practice," Murphy said. "Our kids understand that it is a huge part of the game and we want to make sure we win that war every week."

The Panthers face another SWC rival in Weston (3-2) this Friday at home.