Waterbury, CT — Defending Class MM state football champion Masuk started Friday night’s season opener against Holy Cross with a surprise onside kick and a long pass from junior quarterback Aaron Champagne on the ensuing play. The Panthers, ranked ninth in the GametimeCT preseason Top 10 poll, scored on the next play, but found themselves in a back-and-forth game against the Crusaders at Municipal Stadium’s Ray Snyder Sr. Field. A key goal-line stand with just over seven minutes left to play sealed Masuk’s 32-21 win. It also gave Chris Pace his first victory as Panthers head coach. “I told the guys that we get a chance to write their story this year,” Pacs said. “Chapter one was tonight, and I’m just so proud that they fought.” Champagne, one of GametimeCT’s 50 players to watch, didn’t throw a touchdown pass on the night, but he was perfectly fine with letting Masuk’s running game do the work. “We know Aaron can throw the ball, and just to speak to Aaron, he came off and said ‘coach, let’s just keep running the ball, running the ball, running the ball,’ because we were having success,” Pace said. “This was a kid who had a career year last year (2,580 yards, 33 touchdowns last year), but that just shows the type of team player and man he is.” Sophomore running back Michael Charland ran the ball hard all night and set up multiple scoring chances. “As a running back, our line’s giving me big holes, and that’s all I can ask for as a back,” said Charland, who played in Masuk’s dramatic championship game win over Windsor as a freshman. From there, Tanner Walker (2-yard run), Jake Viglione (3-yard run) and Domenico Convertito (8-yard run) finished off drives with touchdowns. “He’s patient, he runs, he’s got speed and he’s got some power to mix in with it,” Pace said about Charland. “He’s got a really bright future ahead of him.” Holy Cross junior quarterback Brady Lombardo fared well in his first varsity start, tossing touchdown passes of 15 yards to Dae’Sean Graves, 25 yards to Aaden Hall and 27 yards to Devonne Drake. “Some of our younger kids stepped up. Our quarterback had a good night,” Holy Cross coach Mike Giampetruzzi said. “Some of our young receivers. I mean, we have four seniors on our team, so a lot of kids were playing for the first time, and they really stepped up and played well.” It was the first Connecticut High School Football Alliance game for the Crusaders. Player of the Game Michael Charland, Masuk: The sophomore running back ran hard between the tackles and helped the Panthers churn up yards, and later clock, in the victory. Quotable “We could tell in the beginning that it was going back and forth, and it would come down to a big possession. Our defense had a great goal-line stand, and we were able to get a couple first downs, run the football at the end and really just run the clock out.” — Masuk head coach Chris Pace No. 9 Masuk 32, Holy Cross 21 MASUK 8 14 10 0 — 32 HOLY CROSS 7 7 7 0 — 21 M—Jake Viglione 2 run (Viglione run) HC—Brady Lombardo 15 pass Dae'Sean Graves (Nate Craft kick) M—Tanner Walker 2 run (Brayden Callahan kick) HC—Lombardo 25 pass Aaden Hall (Craft kick) M—Viglione 3 run (Callahan kick) M—Domenico Convertito 8 run (Callahan kick) HC—Lombardo 27 pass Devonne Drake (Craft kick) M—Callahan 23 field goal Records: M 1-0; H 0-1. https://www.ctinsider.com/gametimect/football/article/masuk-holy-cross-ciac-football-result-21045178.php