LOWELL, MA - Massachusetts Pirates running back Pooka Williams Jr. finished his first season of indoor football as the leading rusher in the Indoor Football League. In 13 games, the former star running back at the University of Kansas led the league with 201 carries for an IFL-best 795 yards. He won the title by 25 yards over Jeff Jones, quarterback of the Bay Area Panthers. In fact, four quarterbacks ranked behind Williams Jr. The next true running back, Antonio Wimbush of the Vegas Knight Hawks, finished sixth.

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 for 361 yards, with two touchdowns. 

Williams Jr. was one of nine Pirates who ended the season in Massachusetts with a top ten ranking in the league.

Quarterback Kenji Bahar enjoyed a productive rookie season as he led the IFL with 27 rushing touchdowns. The former Monmouth University QB was ninth in the league in scoring with 10.8 points per game. He was also seventh in total offense with 2,362 yards. As a passer, Bahar compiled top ten numbers as he was fifth in completions with 201, ranked fifth in attempts with 321, was sixth with 2,080 passing yards, and seventh with 37 passing touchdowns and completion percentage at 62.6 percent. His average of 130.6 yards per game ranked tenth. He also had a league-long touchdown pass of 49 yards. Three times in 2025, Bahar had five touchdown passes in a game, and his 205 passing yards against the Iowa Barnstormers on July 3 were a career best. 

Bahar had two of the league's premier receivers on the other end of his throws. Teo Redding tied Williams Jr. for a team high of 52 receptions, which was tenth in the league. His 634 receiving yards ranked eighth, and he was seventh with 15 touchdown catches. Five times Redding had five receptions in a game, and twice 100 receiving yards, including a season best 114 vs. Iowa. Thomas Owens also had 15 touchdown receptions and was 11th with an average of 12.8 yards per catch. Owens finished the season with 41 catches for 526 yards.

Pirates kicker Josh Gable was ninth in the IFL with 82 kicking points. His 5.9 points per game ranked tenth for kickers. Gable was seventh with ten made field goals and ranked ninth with 52 made extra points.

On the defensive side, Michael Mason played in only nine games but was eighth in the league with 5.5 sacks. His average of .61 sacks per game was fourth best in the IFL. Mason also posted 8.5 tackles for a loss. Teammate DJ Dale was 11th with 4.5 sacks on the season and had eight tackles for a loss. Dominic Quewon was tied for ninth with .5 sacks per game as he posted 3.5 sacks in seven games.

In the secondary, defensive backs DJ Daniel, Marcus Floyd, and Teldrick Ross all made their mark. Daniel was number one in the IFL, defending 1.56 passes per game. Daniel was ninth in the league with 14 passes defended and ninth with 11 passes broken up. He had three interceptions on the season. 

Marcus Floyd finished tied for tenth with four interceptions. He added 11 passes defended and broke up seven more. Teldrick Ross was eighth with 1.14 passes defended per game. Ross defended eight passes in seven games. 
 

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The 2021 United Bowl Champions, the Massachusetts Pirates, are members of the Indoor Football League (IFL) and play their home games at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell. For information on the Massachusetts Pirates, please call (508) 452-MASS (6277), email contact@masspiratesfootball.com, or visit http://www.masspiratesfootball.com. Follow the Pirates on Facebook via Facebook.com/MAPirates, Instagram @mass.pirates, and X @mass_pirates.

About the Indoor Football League: The IFL is the longest-running indoor football league with 14 teams based in cities across the country. Catch every game live at IFLNetwork.com. For 2025 ticket information, please email info@goifl.com or visit https://goifl.com. Follow the IFL on Facebook via Facebook.com/IFLIndoorFootballLeague, Instagram @indoorfootballleague, and X @IndoorFL.