IFL Orlando Pirates

Sioux Falls Hosts Massachusetts in Regular Season Finale

Published on July 14, 2023 under Indoor Football League (IFL)
Orlando Pirates News Release


The Massachusetts Pirates close out their regular season on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. CT against the Sioux Falls Storm at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. The Pirates are 9-5 and are tied for second place in the Indoor Football League's Eastern Conference and hold the third best winning percentage overall (.643). The Storm is 8-6 and are currently in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

With a win, the Pirates can secure a first-round home playoff game in the upcoming playoffs. Sioux Falls can finish as high as second place with a win coupled with a loss by Quad City.

The Series:

The Pirates are 2-0 all-time against the Storm. Both wins came last season with the Pirates winning 43-42 at home and 69-55 on the road.

The Last Meeting: 6/5/2022

Pirate's quarterback Taz Wilson threw for seven touchdowns and ran for two more in a 69-55 victory in Sioux Falls. His touchdown responsibility of nine set a Pirates' single game record.

Pirate's defensive back Aarion-Maxey Penton returned an interception 48-yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. It was the third "pick-six" in his Pirates' career making him the team's All-Time leader in that category.

This was also the best game in the career of Pirates' wide receiver Darren Carrington. The wideout had nine receptions for 130 yards and four touchdowns.

The Last Time Out:

The Pirates' road woes continued as they lost 37-32 to the Northern Arizona Wranglers. Massachusetts jumped out to a 14-0 lead as quarterback Anthony Russo connected with wideout Isaac Zico on a 26-yard scoring play and running back Jimmie Robinson added a 20-yard touchdown run, but the Wranglers scored the next 37 points and then held on for a five-point victory.

Russo finished the game 6 of 14 passing for 70 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Alejandro Bennifield was three of five passing off the bench for 62 yards and two scores. He also ran twice for 17 yards. Robinson led the Pirates with five carries for 20 yards and a touchdown. Zico led all receivers in the game with five receptions for 69 yards and two touchdowns. Defensive back Kenneth Durden, making his first start for the Pirates, led the way with nine tackles and three passes broken up. Momodou Mbye had an interception and Lorenzo Hernandez added a sack.

The Storm picked up a win on the road in Des Moines over the Iowa Barnstormers 54-47. Sioux Falls never trailed but never led by more than eight points during the contest. Iowa tied the game at 40 with 5:35 to play on a two-yard run by Antonio Wimbush. Quarterback Lorenzo Brown Jr. scored on a six-yard run with 2:49 remaining for a seven-point advantage. Iowa tied it up again as Dom McNeil caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Smith with 60 seconds left. That gave the Storm just enough time to get the victory as Brown Jr. found Draysean Hudson from 27-yards out for the winning score.

Team Stats: (IFL Ranking Included)

The Pirates and fifth in scoring in the IFL averaging 49.8 points per game while allowing 46.2 (seventh). Their offense averages 243.4 yards per contest (fifth). That includes 169.3 yards per game via the pass (fourth). The Pirates have allowed the fewest sacks in the IFL (five).

The Storm is scoring 461. points per game (seventh) while yielding 42.7 (fourth). The Sioux Falls offense is netting 215.7 yards per game (12th) but ranks sixth allowing 229.8 yards per game defensively. The Storm is fifth in rushing (87.5 yards per game) but 13th in passing at 128.2 yards per contest.

The Pirates may have an edge in the kicking game as they are second in the IFL with a .450 field goal percentage (9 of 20) and they have connected on .851 percent of extra points (63 of 47) which is fifth best in the league. The Storm is last in field goal percentage (.118) and 12th in PAT's at .762 percent.

Players to Watch: (Includes IFL Rankings)

Pirates' running back Jimmie Robinson continues to lead the IFL in rushing with 842 yards. He has rushed 150 times (fifth), averages 5.6 yards per carry (eighth) and 68.4 yards per game (third). His 25 rushing touchdowns are fifth best in the league.

Robinson is fourth in the league in scoring averaging 14.6 points per game. As a returner, Robinson is seventh with an average of 21.4 yards per return. His three touchdown returns are second in the league. The rookie running back leads the league with 1,357 all-purpose yards.

Fabian Guerra of the Pirates has returned three kicks for an average of 27.8 which currently leads the IFL.

Xavier Jackson of the Storm is seventh in scoring in the IFL with an average of 12.7 points per contest.

Storm quarterback Lorenzo Brown Jr. is second in the league with 161 rushing attempts and ninth in yards with 494. He is tied for third with 26 rushing touchdowns. Brown averages 3.1 yards per carry and 35.3 rushing yards per contest.

Pirates' quarterback Anthony Russo has completed 168 passes (fourth) in 271 attempts (fifth) (62 percent), for 2,033 yards (third) with 45 touchdowns (second) and 10 interceptions. Russo averages 156.4 yards per game (seventh) and has an efficiency rating of 172.4 (sixth).

For the Storm, Brown is 142 (ninth) of 248 (seventh) for 1,721 passing yards (10th) with 31 touchdowns (ninth) and eight interceptions. He averages 122.9 yards per game and has an efficiency rating of 150.3.

Wideout Isaac Zico of the Pirates is third in the IFL with 71 receptions for 809 yards (fifth) and 18 touchdowns (fifth). Zico averages 11.5 yards per catch and 61.9 yards per game (fourth). Zico averages 5.4 receptions per night which is the most in the league.

Donnie Corley Jr. of Sioux Falls has 47 receptions for 669 yards with 17 touchdowns (seventh). He averages 14.2 yards per catch (seventh) and 47.8 yards per game.

Massachusetts kicker Josh Gable ranks sixth in field goal percentage at 43.8 as he has made seven (sixth) of 16 attempts (eighth).

Sioux Falls defensive back LaRonji Vason-McCoy is second in the league with 78.5 tackles. He averages 5.6 per game which is tenth in the league. Teammate James Brown (linebacker) averages 5.8 which is seventh most in the IFL. Linebacker Undraez Lilly has 9.5 tackles for a loss, ranking him tenth in the league, including 4.5 sacks (eighth).

The Storm has two defensive backs who rank in the top ten in interceptions. Eugene Ford has six interceptions (fifth) and Byron Edwards has four (10th)

The Coaches:

Mark Stoute is now 9-5 as the Head Coach of the Pirates. Stoute joined the organization in June of 2021 as a senior advisor. He served as Offensive Coordinator last season.

Stoute is the fifth head coach in Pirates history and has 27 years of coaching experience in the indoor game. He 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.

Kurtiss Riggs is in his 19th season as head coach of the Sioux Falls Storm. Under his leadership, the Storm have won 11 League Championships, including consecutive titles from 2005-2008 and most recently, from 2011 through the 2016 seasons. With Coach Riggs at the helm, the Storm achieved the longest winning streak of any professional sports team with 40 consecutive wins. Riggs was inducted into the Indoor Football League's Hall of Fame in 2021.

Riggs has been named Coach of the Year four times. He began his professional football career as a player with the Sioux Falls Cobras in 2000 and continued playing for the Storm in 2001. He began his coaching duties in 2002 as the offensive coordinator before taking over in 2003 as the head coach.

Kurtiss is a 1997 graduate of the University of Sioux Falls. He earned All-American honors after leading the Cougars to the NAIA National Championship and was named National Player-of-the-Year in 1996. He went on to play professionally in Europe and in numerous indoor leagues after college.

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Indoor Football League Stories from July 14, 2023


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