LOWELL — The Massachusetts Pirates officially docked to begin their second IFL season in the Mill City.

But the home team certainly didn’t leave the bowels of the Tsongas Center with any treasure on Friday night.

After amassing just 137 yards of offense and committing six turnovers against the visiting Jacksonville Sharks, the Pirates dropped their season opener, 46-25.

Pooka Williams notched a trio of touchdowns for the Pirates as signal-caller Kenji Bahar posted 86 passing yards at a 9-for-16 clip while rushing for a touchdown in his Massachusetts debut in the loss.

Chelmsford native Sal Lupoli Jr. also made some noise in his Pirates debut, blocking an extra point in the first quarter.

First-year Pirates head coach Fredrick Griggs said Massachusetts’ result boiled down to “just too many turnovers.”

The first quarter didn’t go as planned for the Pirates, turning the ball over on their first two offensive possessions that both translated to touchdowns for the visitors.

Massachusetts plugged a six-play drive for a loss of two yards before the initial giveaway to the hands of Malik Jones before Kaleb Barker (9-for-18, 121 yards) darted a strike to Ka’ron Ashley in the end zone to take a quick 7-0 lead.

Bahar hiccuped again on the ensuing drive. John Huggins landed the second interception that set the table for another score for the Pirates — this time a 10-yard dart to Jaedon Stoshak in the end zone.

But perhaps what the Pirates needed was a jolt of momentum from the local kid. As the ball was snapped to Carson Hancock for the extra point, a diving Lupoli Jr. blocked the kick and gave the hosts some life.

Lupoli Jr. was a standout at Chelmsford High before enjoying a stellar career at Bentley that had him walk away from the program in 2023 as the all-time tackles leader (337).

Friday marked his professional debut, and his first big-time play set the table for Massachusetts’ first score when Williams escaped for an eight-yard jaunt across the goal line to cut Jacksonville’s lead to 13-7 into the second quarter on the subsequent possession.

“Sal gave us his all,” Griggs said. “Not even being one of the bigger guys playing linebacker, he made some plays and definitely lived up to his expectations today no question.”

But after calling only three offensive plays to produce a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter, the Sharks took a 19-7 lead 56 seconds into the second on a two-play stanza that put the ball in the hands of Ashley for his second touchdown of the game. Barker then found Edward Vander with 4:04 left in the half to expand the lead to 26-7.

The hosts generated just 22 yards of offense in the quarter for a total of 66 in the half while entering the break trailing by a 26-7 margin.

The Pirates were plagued with similar woes to start the second, allowing Tyler King to break free on the opening kickoff to increase the Jacksonville advantage to 32-7.

Bahar’s quarterback keeper with 9:19 left in the third responded to the Sharks’ touchdown at the tail end of a seven-play stanza that produced 30 yards — the Pirates’ most productive drive of the night.

“We looked very formidable on defense after the first couple of mistakes, we just got to get our timing right and get our quarterback comfortable,” Griggs said.

Marcis Floyd and Donnie Lewis Jr. intercepted Barker in the third quarter, but Massachusetts couldn’t muster any points from the turnovers. Vander’s two-yard touchdown rush followed to provide the Sharks with a commanding 39-13 lead ahead of the final quarter.

The Pirates’ gaffes only mounted in the fourth, fumbling the ball to allow ex-Pirate Jimmie Robinson to find the end zone just minutes into the quarter.

Robinson, the only rusher to surpass the 1,000 yards mark last season (1,148), led the IFL with 2,780 all-purpose yards and will leave a large void in the Pirates’ offense.

Williams netted his second and third touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter, but there wasn’t enough time to stage a comeback.

The Pirates will stay at the Tsongas Center for their next two games, hosting the Quad City Steamwheelers next Friday and the Fishers Freight on April 12 for a pair of 7:05 p.m. starts.

“It’s always easy when guys get to stick around and do their home routine before games and recalibrate and get back right without having to worry about travel,” Griggs said. “So it will definitely be a benefit to us moving on to the next couple of weeks.”