WORCESTER, MA - The Massachusetts Pirates, Champions of the Indoor Football League will kick off its season on Saturday night at Phoenix Field at the DCU Center vs. the Frisco Fighters at 7:05. The curtain will go up on the IFL season as it will be the first game to be played in the league in 2022. The Pirates will also raise their first ever championship banner in a pre-game ceremony.
Massachusetts will take the field riding an 11 game winning streak that dates back to last year. This will also be the head coaching debut of Rayshaun Kizer. Kizer was Massachusetts' Defensive Coordinator last season and was promoted as former Head Coach Patrick Pass has moved to a front office position as Director of Football Personnel Development.
This is a rematch of an IFL semifinal from a season ago, which was the last game to be played on Phoenix Field in 2021 that was won by the Pirates.
Instant Rivalry
The Pirates and the Fighters met three times last season and established a rivalry that has kept fans on the edge of their seats.
The first meeting took place on June 12 at Phoenix Field at the DCU Center. Fighters’ quarterback Jerrod Heard ran the ball 13 times for 58 yards and two touchdowns to lead Frisco to a 40-33 victory. Pirates QB Alejandro Bennifield threw for three scores and ran for another in the defeat. Frisco remained undefeated at 4-0 while the Pirates slipped to 3 and 3. It would be the last loss that Massachusetts would suffer as it went on to win its next 11 games to claim the IFL Championship.
On July 3, the Comerica Center in Frisco, TX was the stage for the rematch. The Fighters entered the game undefeated at 5-0, but a 27-yard field goal by Josh Gable as time expired gave the Pirates a 38-37 upset win.
The third meeting was in the semifinals of the IFL playoffs on September 4. The Pirates defense dominated, holding the Fighters to just 23 yards rushing in a 43-22 victory at Phoenix Field at the DCU Center to advance to the United Bowl. Bennifield threw three touchdown passes and running back Justin Stockton carried 14 times for 75 yards and two touchdowns.
Saturday marks the first time Rayshaun Kizer will be on the sidelines as a Head Coach. As Defensive Coordinator and Secondary Coach last season with the Pirates, the former five-time All-Arena League defensive back built a defense that led the league in nine defensive categories. The most impressive stat was that over 17 games, Massachusetts allowed an IFL best 31.6 points per game.
This will also be the first game for the Frisco Fighters with Billy Back as Head Coach. Back joins Frisco after coaching the Spokane Shock into the playoffs last season. Back is 6-2 lifetime against the Pirates having coached against Massachusetts with Spokane and with the Carolina Cobras of the National Arena League. He has an overall record of 112-45 in 10 seasons and is a five-time indoor football champion as a head coach.
Pirates to Watch
For the Pirates, one of the IFL’s most prolific passing combinations returns this season in Alejandro Bennifled to Thomas Owens. Bennifield was the Most Valuable Player in the United Bowl against the Arizona Rattlers in Phoenix in the 37-34 overtime victory that gave the Pirates their first ever championship. In 16 games Bennifield was third in the IFL completing 169 passes. His 309 attempts were second most in the league. He ranked fourth completing 55 percent of his throws, finished second with 43 touchdowns, 1,972 yards, ten interceptions and ranked third with an efficiency rating of 147.8.
Owens led the Indoor Football League in receptions and receiving yards with 77 catches last season and was the only IFL receiver to surpass 1,000 receiving yards as he amassed 1,014.
The 6’1” 207 lb. Owens was a unanimous selection to the All-IFL First Team Offense as he pulled in the longest TD reception of the season (45 yards), ranked second with 27 touchdown receptions and averaged 59.6 receiving yards per game.
Defensively the Pirates return three All-IFL performers in defensive backs Harlan Miller and Chucky Williams and defensive lineman Toby Johnson
PARRIS, GONZALES RETURN TO SUGAR SKULLS BROADCAST FOR 2022
Pat Parris of KGUN 9 News will return to the Sugar Skulls for his third season as the team's play-by-play broadcaster. A native of Tucson, Parris is a Sabino High School alum, who went to the University of Arizona, before transferring to Drake University, which he graduated from with a Broadcast News degree. Parris is a four-time Regional Emmy Award winner and 30-year veteran to the broadcast industry.
Jay Gonzales of Fox Sports 1450 AM will join the Sugar Skulls for his second straight season as the team's color commentator. Gonzales previously worked in the Tucson Sugar Skulls front office during the team's inaugural 2019 season. Having been involved in the Tucson sports scene for 40 years through reporting and media operations of major sporting events, Gonzales currently co-hosts "Eye on the Ball," a sports talk radio show, on the Sugar Skulls' radio flagship station, Fox Sports 1450 AM. Gonzales, also a Tucson native, graduated from Sahuaro High School and earned a journalism degree from the University of Arizona.
Gonzales will also be co-hosting the Sugar Skulls' Coaches Show on StreamYard every Wednesday, with head coach Dixie Wooten and a bevy of exciting guests rotating throughout the season.
The returning dynamic duo of Parris and Gonzales will call Tucson Sugar Skulls 2022 home games, which will be televised locally on Cox Yurview, channel 7 as well as simulcast to the Sugar Skulls' radio flagship, Fox Sports 1450 AM, foxsports1450.iheart.com and the iHeartRadio app.
All Sugar Skulls 2022 regular-season games will be available to stream on the IFL's YouTube channel for fans outside of the Tucson market. The Sugar Skulls' 2022 season will kick off on Sunday, March 27 at Las Vegas, with their first home game set to take place on Saturday, April 9 against the San Diego Strike Force.
PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Champion Massachusetts starts the 2022 season just as it ended the 2021 season -- atop the polls. Followed by Arizona and Frisco to round out the top three.
The entire Coaches Poll is as follows:
- Massachusetts Pirates
- Arizona Rattlers
- Frisco Fighters
- Duke City Gladiators
- Sioux Falls Storm
- Tucson Sugar Skulls
- Vegas Knight Hawks
- Northern Arizona Wranglers
- Iowa Barnstormers
- Green Bay Blizzard
- Quad City Steamwheelers
- Bismarck Bucks
- Bay Area Panthers
- San Diego Strike Force
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