Three Pirates Earn Post-Season Honors
Published on August 16, 2025 under Indoor Football League (IFL)
Massachusetts Pirates News Release
LOWELL, MA - Three members of the Massachusetts Pirates have earned postseason honors from the Indoor Football League. Offensive lineman Navaughn Donaldson has been named to the First-Team All-IFL Offense. Running back Pooka Williams Jr. was selected on the Second-Team All-IFL Offense, and Linebacker Marquis Waters was a defensive selection on the All-IFL Rookie Team.
Navaughn Donaldson was part of an offensive line that allowed only nine sacks this season, which was fourth best in the IFL. His blocking opened holes for the league's leading rusher in Pooka Williams Jr. and for quarterback Kenji Bahar, who had the most rushing touchdowns in the league with 27.
This marks the second consecutive season that Donaldson's efforts have produced the leading rusher in the Indoor Football League, as Jimmie Robinson rushed for 1,155 yards in 2024.
Donaldson has proven to be one of the most durable linemen in the league. This season, the 6'7", 335 lb. product of the University of Miami started at 16 games. Over his three years with Massachusetts, he has started all 48 games in which he has appeared, including the Pirates' run to the IFL National Championship game last season.
A former undrafted free agent with the New York Giants in 2022, Donaldson was an All-IFL Rookie Team selection in 2023.
Running back Pooka Williams Jr. won the IFL rushing title and was an All-IFL Second Team selection. In 13 games, the former star running back at the University of Kansas led the league with 201 carries, a Pirates single-season record, for an IFL best 795 yards. Williams Jr. was a workhorse as he averaged just over 16 carries and four receptions per game. Against the Jacksonville Sharks on May 20, he recorded a team record with 26 carries. A threat to break a big play at any moment, his longest run from scrimmage was 41 yards against the Green Bay Blizzard on July 18, and he also returned a kickoff 45 yards in the season finale against the Bay Area Panthers.
Williams Jr. rushed for three touchdowns in his first game against the Jacksonville Sharks and had two 100-yard rushing games this season. Williams Jr. ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns against Tucson and had a season high 140 yards and two scores against Jacksonville on May 29 at the Tsongas Center. The New Orleans native averaged four yards per carry with 11 touchdowns and was second in the league with 61.2 rushing yards per game.
A former kick returner with the Cincinnati Bengals, Williams Jr. was fifth in the league with 1,274 all-purpose yards and ranked sixth, averaging 98.0 all-purpose yards per game. He had 118 yards in kickoff returns and proved he could catch the ball as well. Williams Jr. tied for tenth in the league with 52 receptions, 361 yards, with two touchdowns.
Linebacker Maquis Waters was named to the IFL's All-Rookie Team. The 6'1", 215 lb. Waters played in 14 games for the Pirates and finished seventh in the league with 15 tackles for a loss, which established a Pirates' single-season record. His 81 yards of lost yardage led the IFL and was also a single-season record for Massachusetts. Waters was also third in the league with 7.5 sacks on the season, which was a team best. The former Duke Blue Devil and Texas Tech Red Raider also had a safety, a blocked kick, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, an interception, and broke up four passes this season.
His signature game was on June 14 at Iowa in a 66-35 victory over the Barnstormers when he had 9.5 tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss, and two sacks. The former undrafted free agent with the New York Jets and member of the Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Elks in the Canadian Football League led the Pirates with 57.5 tackles this season.
Indoor Football League Stories from August 16, 2025
- Three Pirates Earn Post-Season Honors - Massachusetts Pirates
- First Team All-IFL Announced - Iowa Barnstormers
- IFL Announces 2025 All-IFL First Team Defense - IFL
- Two Vegas Knight Hawks Players Named to 2025 All-IFL First Team - Vegas Knight Hawks
- IFL Announces 2025 All-IFL First Team Offense - IFL
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