Pirates Look for Conference Lead Saturday
Published on April 22, 2022 under Indoor Football League (IFL)
Orlando Pirates News Release
WORCESTER, MA - First place in the Indoor Football League's Eastern Conference will be on the line Saturday night on Phoenix Field at the DCU Center when the Massachusetts Pirates host the Iowa Barnstormers at 7:05 pm. For the first time since a win over Tucson on June 19 of 2021, the Pirates (3-1) are not on a winning streak following last week's setback vs. the Green Bay Blizzard. Massachusetts will be playing the role of spoiler as Iowa (3-1) comes in riding a three-game winning streak. Both teams sit atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Last Week:
Last Saturday night the Pirates suffered their first loss of the season as the Green Bay Blizzard defeated Massachusetts in overtime, 38-31. The victory by the Blizzard stopped the Pirates 14 game winning streak. Pirates' receiver Thomas Owens had seven receptions for 83 yards and three touchdowns. Owens is now the Pirates all-time leader with 158 receptions, eclipsing the mark of 157 set by Mardy Gilyard who played with Massachusetts from 2018 through last season. With his three touchdown receptions, Owens now has 39 career TD catches and trails Gilyard by just nine on the Pirates all-time list. Quarterback Alejandro Bennifield was 19 of 28 passing for 108 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Martez Carter was the leading rusher for Massachusetts with 30 yards on 13 carries while adding a TD reception. Linebacker Koby Quansah led the defense with eight tackles, including a sack.
Iowa defeated Sioux Falls 47-37 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA last weekend. With Sioux Falls leading 37-36 in the fourth quarter, the Storm were looking to add to its lead, but Iowa defensive end Dave Calderon forced Storm QB Daniel Smith to fumble on fourth and goal at the one. Barnstormers linebacker Ian McBorrough recovered. Iowa then drove 45-yards in three plays with QB D-J Peterson hitting wideout Dom McNeil with a 15-TD pass with 6:20 to play. Kicker Gabriel Rui added an 18-yard field goal with 46 seconds remaining for the ten-point victory. Peterson was nine of 18 for 112 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Peterson was also the leading rusher with nine carries for 58 yards and three scores. McNeil had five receptions for 81 yards and three touchdowns. Iowa defensive backs Jordan Baldwin and Justic'e King each had seven tackles and a tackle for a loss.
Last Meeting:
The Pirates defeated the Barnstormers 55-19 at Phoenix Field at the DCU Center in the final game of the regular season. Massachusetts running back Justin Stockton had nine carries for 23 yards and a score. The leading receiver was Thomas Owens who had five receptions for 85 yards and three touchdowns. Laquvionte Gonzalez had 139 all-purpose yards on the night with one yard rushing, 27 receiving and 111 coming on kick returns. Owens finished with 103 all-purpose yards with his seven-yard run, 85 receiving yards and 11 more coming via a returned kickoff. QB Alejandro Bennifield finished the game 10 of 18 passing for 141 yards and three scores.
The Pirates defense saw Harlan Miller make six tackles, Santos Ramirez added 5.5 along with his 12-yard fumble return for a score and defensive back Khalid Wooten broke up four passes.
The leading rusher in the game was Iowa's Elad Covaliu who ran 12 times for 49 yards and a touchdown. QB Dequan Neal finished 9 of 26 passing for 86 yards while backup Rich Stammetti was 1 of 4 for 22 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Three Iowa receivers had three receptions. Donovan Rasberry ended with 41 yards and a score while Kentrez Bell had 29 yards and Daylon Person added 28. Tyrone Cromwell III had six tackles to lead the Barnstormers defense.
Team Stats:
The Pirates are fifth in the IFL scoring 37.8 points per game while allowing 33.3 ranking them fifth. Iowa's offense is fourth in the league averaging 38.0 points per contest and ranks fourth in the IFL allowing 33.0 points per night. Massachusetts currently has the best passing game in the IFL averaging 173.3 yards per game.
Players to Watch:
Bennifield is first in the IFL with 173.3 passing yards per game and ranks first in total offense averaging 195.5 yards per contest. The Pirates' quarterback is 61 of 99 for 693 yards (most in the IFL) with 15 touchdowns (second) and three interceptions. Bennifield is also the Pirates' leading rusher with 26 carries for 89 yards and two scores.
For Iowa, Peterson is fifth, averaging 134.8 passing yards per game and is second in the IFL in total offense, producing 180 yards per outing. This season Peterson is 45 of 75 for 539 yards with eight touchdowns and three interceptions. Peterson is also his team's leading rusher with 181 yards on 42 carries with six touchdowns.
As for receivers, Owens of Massachusetts is second in the league with 298 receiving yards, tied for second with seven touchdown receptions and is second with 74.5 receiving yards per game. On the year Owens has 22 receptions. Also, for the Pirates Isaac Zico has 11 receptions for 128 yards and two TDs. Iowa's Kentrez Bell is tenth in the IFL with 46.7 receiving yards per game. He currently has eight receptions for 140 yards and four touchdowns. Teammate Alvin Bailey also has 13 receptions for 138 yards.
Defensive backs Khalid Wooten and Aarion Maxey-Penton are leading the Pirates as Wooten has 19 tackles on the year while Maxey-Penton has three passes broken up, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
For Iowa, defensive back Jordan Baldwin is second in the IFL with 8.5 tackles per game. Baldwin has 34 stops on the season. Linebacker Ian McBorrough is tied for the league lead with two forced fumbles. He is also fifth with 1.25 tackles for a loss per game. DB JR Stevens has two interceptions in 2022.
The Coaches:
This is a matchup of a pair of first-year head coaches in Rayshaun Kizer of the Pirates and Dave Mogensen of the Barnstormers. Both have prior experience as assistant coaches in the IFL; Kizer with Bismarck and Massachusetts as the defensive coordinator for the IFL champions last season and Mogensen with Green Bay as an offensive coordinator in 2018 and 2019. Mogensen was the assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel with the Albany Empire, champions of the National Arena League last season.
Indoor Football League Stories from April 22, 2022
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