Pirates top Sharks

Alejandro Bennifield got to savor some home cooking.

The Massachusetts quarterback threw four touchdown passes, as the Pirates defeated the Jacksonville Sharks, 26-21, Saturday night in their Tsongas Center debut in front of an enthusiastic opening night crowd of 2,536.

The 2021 United Bowl champions, the Massachusetts Pirates (2-0) are members of the Indoor Football League. After five seasons in Worcester, the team moved to Lowell during the offseason, signing a multi-year agreement at the Tsongas.

“It felt great,” said Bennifield. “First game in the city of Lowell, and we felt great energy. Every touchdown the fans were standing up. They supported us, even when weren’t as great. But we persevered and got that win.”

“Any time you can get that first win at home, first game, it’s history in the building,” said Pirates coach Rod Miller. “It feels great. We made some mistakes we have to clean up, but it still feels great to get the win.”

For fans like Chelmsford’s Ryan Tatara, who showed up dressed in an old school Lowell Lock Monster’s hockey jersey, heading in to see Lowell’s newest pro sports team in his backyard was a no-brainer.

“I first heard about them when they were in Worcester, so when I saw they moved to Lowell I had no choice but to go,” said Tatara, who came along with his buddy Ben Grossman, a former UMass Lowell student, had front row seats in the end zone. “We made a night of it and are just having a ton of fun so far.”

A minor league hockey franchise, the Lock Monsters called Tsongas Center home from 1999-06, before the Lowell Devils moved in from 1998-10. Having a pro sports team back in action at the arena is always something special.

“It’s awesome,” said Tatara. “Being right next door and a quick 15-minute drive is pretty cool.”

Bennifield and company certainly gave them something to cheer about. Fresh off their dramatic 44-40 come-from-behind road win against the Green Bay Blizzard in Sunday’s season opener, the Pirates were driven from the opening kick

Jacksonville made them work for it, however, as Logan Wright bolted 22 yards for the touchdown on the Sharks fourth play from scrimmage, putting them in an early 6-0 hole. And when kicker Frankie Onate added the extra point, the Sharks held the 7-0 lead just 3:16 into the game.

The Pirates showed plenty of pushback. Jimmie Robertson was in perpetual motion from the opening kickoff return, while also making several stunning rushes. Matt Elam delivered also several big hits, including one on Wright which sent him spinning.

Bennifield took it from there. The signal-caller connected with Isaac Zico on a pair of 35-yard connections in the second quarter. Kicker Josh Gable added two extra points kicks, giving Massachusetts the 14-7 lead with 5:34 left in the half.

But just as Bennifield was finding his rhythm, Jacksonville managed to battle back. Brion Murray intercepted a pass in the end zone, jetting 50 yards to paydirt for the touchdown, cutting the deficit to 14-13. Onate’s second PAT knotted up the game 14-14 at halftime.

Undaunted, the Pirates’ QB managed to battle back in the second half, finding Teo Redding on a jumping 25-yard pass in the end zone, taking the 20-14 lead in the third quarter. The quarterback then connected with Jimmie Robertson on a six-yard strike to open the fourth quarter, giving the home team the 26-14 advantage.

Onate kicked an 11-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, cutting the Massachusetts lead to 26-21 with 6:39 to play, but that’s as close as the Sharks would get.

“We had to just kept pushing,” said Bennifield. “That’s our motto, keep pushing keep going. No matter the mistakes, no matter the success, just continue playing until the clock runs 0:00.”

According to Miller, his QB came through in the clutch.

“He’s a veteran quarterback, that’s why he’s one of the tops in the league,” said Miller. “That’s why he’s a championship quarterback. In this game. He did make a mistake at the end of the first half, but he bounced back from it. He took ownership and that’s what makes him better. ”

The coach was impressed with the crowd support.

“They were very loud,” said Miller. “We got that feeling when we got those fourth down situations. We had what I felt were a couple bad calls by the referee, I heard the fans getting on them more than we had to. That was good. I love our crowd. I’m looking forward to coming back here for more noise this Friday.”