IFL Orlando Pirates

Pirates Open IFL Season Sunday vs Green Bay

Published on March 23, 2023 under Indoor Football League (IFL)
Orlando Pirates News Release


The Massachusetts Pirates kickoff their 2023 Indoor Football League season with a home opener on Sunday, March 25 at 1:05 pm (eastern) on Phoenix Field at the DCU Center against the 0-1 Green Bay Blizzard. This marks the fifth season of Pirates football in Worcester.

Season Openers

The Pirates are 3-1 all-time in season opening games. Last year the Pirates defeated the Frisco Fighters in the first game of the season as Josh Gable kicked a 33-yard field goal for the victory at Phoenix Field at the DCU Center. Gable accounted for 11 total points in the game. Pirates Quarterback Alejandro Bennifield was 11 of 24 passing for 105 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He was also the Pirates leading rusher with 23 yards on five carries and a score. Massachusetts' leading receiver was Isaac Zico who had four receptions for 52 yards. Defensively, linebacker Naashon Hughes led the team with 7.5 tackles. DB Chucky Williams added six tackles and a tackle for a loss. When it comes to Home Openers, Massachusetts has a record of 2-2 all-time.

The Series

The Pirates and Blizzard have each won two games of the four contests played between the teams since 2021. Green Bay has won both games at the Resch Center while the Pirates have defended its home turf including the last meeting.

The Last Meeting - June 11, 2022

Quarterback Taz Wilson threw four touchdown passes and ran for two more scores as the Pirates defeated the Blizzard 48-30 at Phoenix Field at the DCU Center. The Pirates shutout Green Bay in the third quarter to break open a game that was deadlocked at halftime.

The Third quarter belonged to the Pirates. Massachusetts took the second-half kickoff and drove 30 yards in seven plays. Wilson connected with running back Deddrick Thomas on a six-yard strike to put the Pirates up by seven. Two plays later the defense contributed with a score. On second and nine from the Green Bay 23, Pirates defensive end Ivan McLennan sacked quarterback Jack Sheehan who fumbled. The ball was

recovered by Da'Sean Downey who returned it 15 yards for a touchdown and Massachusetts led 34-20.

The Pirates outgained the Blizzard 243 yards to 139. The Massachusetts defense held Green Bay to just 23 yards rushing and also accounted for three sacks on the night. The Pirates were also a perfect four for four in the red-zone, scoring four touchdowns.

For the Pirates, Wilson was the leading rusher in the game with 48 yards on 15 carries with two scores. Wilson was 13 of 20 passing for 184 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. His top target was Thomas Owens. Owens was the game's leading receiver with six catches for 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Defensively, Pirates defensive back Lukas Denis and linebacker Reggie Floyd each had eight tackles. Floyd had two tackles for a loss and a half-sack. Downey added 1.5 sacks and the 15-yard fumble return for a touchdown.

For The Blizzard, Tim Whitfield carried seven times for 16 yards and a touchdown. Sheehan was 16 of 26 passing for 164 yards with two touchdowns. He had four receivers who each had four receptions. Shaquan Curenton had the most yards of the quartet with 48. Steven Newbold, who had 37 yards and a touchdown, also returned four kicks for a total of 95 yards giving him 132 yards of total offense for the game. Defensive back Momodou Mbye had nine tackles to lead all players in that department.

The Last Time Out:

The Green Bay Blizzard opened their 2023 season at home on Sunday at the Resch Center against Frisco. The Blizzard jumped out to a 16-13 first quarter lead, but then were outscored in the second quarter by the Fighters 33-0 as Frisco went on to win 76 to 30. For the Fighters quarterback T.J. Edwards was 14 of 20 passing for 139 yards and a touchdown. Edwards was also the games leading rusher with 78 yards on 14 carries with six rushing touchdowns.

For the Blizzard, starting quarterback Ja'rome Johnson was 3 of 13 passing for 69 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Back-up QB Max Meylor finished 8 of 19 for 72 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Johnson was also his team's leading rusher with five carries for 33 yards. Running back Terrence Smith ran the ball four times for 13 yards with two scores.

Wideout Steve Newbold had three receptions for 61 yards and two touchdowns while Marquise Irvin added three catches for 41 yards.

Defensively, Jak Pappillion led Green Bay with six tackles. Anthony Hayes added three with two coming for a loss.

The Coaches

This will be the first game for Mark Stoute as Head Coach of the Massachusetts Pirates. Stoute joined the Pirates organization in June of 2021 as a senior advisor to then Head Coach Patrick Pass and helped Massachusetts hoist the United Bowl trophy at the end of the season. Last year Stoute served as offensive coordinator for Head Coach Rayshaun Kizer and was the Special Teams coach at the end of the season. As the team's offensive coordinator, Stoute helped the Pirates to be the 4th-best passing attack in the IFL.

Stoute is the fifth head coach in Pirates history and has 27 years of coaching experience in the indoor game working in the AF2, AFL, NAL and IFL. Stoute has previously been a head coach with the Louisville Xtreme, Cedar Rapids River Kings/Titans, Nebraska Danger and Jacksonville Sharks. His professional coaching experience began in the AFL in 1995 with the Connecticut Coyotes.

Stoute had his most success as a head coach from 2012 to 2016 with the Cedar Rapids Titans leading them to four-straight playoff appearances. After an impressive 2013 season, Stoute was named the IFL Coach of the Year.

Corey Roberson is now in his fourth season as Head Coach of the Blizzard. He was named head coach of Green Bay in 2019 led the Blizzard to its first playoff appearance in seven seasons and was named IFL Coach of the Year. His team led the IFL in scoring defense that season and since has never finished lower than four in the league in that category. Roberson played nine seasons of indoor football. His stops included Rapid City, Billings, Wyoming and finished in 2010 with the Green Bay Blizzard. As a coach, he spent the next three seasons as a special teams and skills position coach. He became the defensive coordinator in 2014. From 2014 to 2018, he continued to assist with special teams and defense.

Players to Watch

Alejandro Bennifield:

The Pirates quarterback returns for his fourth season. Bennifield, who was the Most Valuable Player in the 2021 Indoor Football League Championship game, holds eight playoff records and three all-time marks for the organization.

Last season Bennifield missed six games due to injury, yet was ranked in six of the IFL's top ten statistical categories for quarterbacks. He was also the league's Offensive Player of the Week after his week five performance against the Bismarck Bucks. In a 54-43 win at the Bismarck Event Center Bennifield had his best day as a Pirates passer. The 6 '2'' 210 lb. "Lefty" from Lovejoy, GA set career highs in completions, passing yards and touchdown passes as he was 19 of 29 for 262 yards with six touchdowns against two interceptions.

Thomas Owens:

Owens earned All-Indoor Football League First-Team honors for a second straight season in 2022. He owns nine individual Pirates records and six additional playoff marks. This will be his fourth season with the Pirates organization.

The 6'1", 205 lb. receiver from Florida International University played in a total of 16 games last season and was second in the IFL in three categories with 67 receptions, 911 yards and 22 touchdowns. Owens was third in the league with 58.5 receiving yards per game and was seventh with 14 yards per reception and 4.2 catches per contest. He was also tenth in scoring with 9.1 points per game.

Aarion Maxey-Penton:

The 5'10", 190 lb. defensive back holds multiple Pirates records including most passes defended with 37, is tied for the Pirates All-Time mark with 12 regular season inceptions, most interception return yards, (261) and three interception returns for touchdowns.

The St. Louis, MO native finished the 2022 season being selected to the All-IFL First- Team recording 72 tackles (47 solo, 25 asst) with seven interceptions (IFL leader) with a pair being run back for scores. His dominant play during Week 19 earned him the IFL's Defensive Player of the Week award as he recorded an interception return for a 52-yard touchdown and made 2.5 tackles with two broken-up passes.

Momodou Mbye:

The 6'0", 185 lb. defensive back from Pawtucket, RI, joins the Pirates after playing the last two seasons in Green Bay.

In 2022, Mbye was an All-IFL Second-Team defensive selection. He appeared in 14 games making 108 tackles (71 solo, 37 assisted). He had two interceptions, a forced fumble and had a fumble recovery.

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Indoor Football League Stories from March 23, 2023


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