Hootens.com Rankings
Class 7A, Week 8, 2009
Copyright Hooten Publishing, Inc.

1. Springdale Har-Ber (7-0)
2. Cabot (7-0)
3. Bentonville (6-1)
4. North LR (5-2)
5. Bryant (6-1)
6. FS Southside (5-2)
7. LR Catholic (4-3)
8. Russellville (5-1-1)
9. Fayetteville (4-2-1)
10. Rogers Heritage (5-2)
11. Springdale (3-4)
12. FS Northside (2-5)
13. Rogers (2-5)
14. Conway (2-5)
15. Van Buren (1-5-1)
16. LR Central (0-7)

HOOTENS.COM GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 2 Cabot at No. 5 Bryant
Bryant's six wins are over teams with a combined 12-29-1 record. Undefeated Cabot's victims are 16-33. Bryant coach Paul Calley is 2-1 against Cabot coach Mike Malham as the Hornets have held Cabot to 14 points or less the past three years. But Bryant quarterback Jimmy Easterling (14 of 23 for 152 yards in 31-14 win last week at Conway) and top offensive lineman Kaleb Burns are injured. Cabot owns opponents in the trenches. Cabot all-state fullback Michael James looks full speed after missing the first half of the season with an injury while three-year starting QB Seth Bloomberg is a weapon passing. "We must win the field-position battle," says Calley. "They're too good up front on both sides and they'll keep the ball away from you. If we give up more than 14 points, there is no way we're going to win." Cabot allows 8.85 points per game with physical all-state linebacker Spencer Neumann, a scholar athlete, leading its defense. Calley says left tackle Burns, the offensive line's only returning starter, is likely out for the season, and the consistent Easterling (concussion) will practice without contact until Thursday per doctor's orders. Senior Chris Rycraw (legit 4.6 speed) leads Bryant with 1,093 yards and broke out of the backfield for a TD pass on the final play of the first half last week at Conway. Rycraw's 2,647 career steps is just 219 shy of Bryant record rusher Matt White. Russellville's QB and running back Jacob Sparks averaged 5.3 yards per rush against Bryant, and Conway rushed for 168 yards on 28 carries (5.8 yards per carry), mostly in the second half against the Hornets. Cabot spies film well.

TV SHOW
Hooten's Arkansas Football airs statewide 11 a.m. Saturdays on CBS (Today's THV 11 and KFSM TV 5). Games scheduled to be featured this week include FS Southside at Har-Ber, Cabot at Bryant, LR Catholic at Russellville and North LR at LR Central.

LAST WEEK
Hootens.com correctly predicted 6 of 8 winners (75 percent). For the season, hootens.com is 54-14-2 (79 percent).

WEEK 8 PREDICTIONS (favored team in ALL CAPS followed by point spread)
7A CENTRAL
CABOT (4) at Bryant: Game of the Week. Bryant standout junior tackle Josh Hampton and the Hornet defense must play best game to slow Cabot.
CONWAY (7) at Van Buren: Winner claims league's final playoff spot. Conway has beaten two winless teams (LR Central 41-0 and Class 6A Benton). Van Buren's only win was at LR Central 28-24.
LR Catholic at RUSSELLVILLE (3): Russellville's Aaron McConell sidelined Van Buren starting QB Tyler Spoon with a concussion-causing sack and returned a fumble 86 yards for a TD in last week's 31-21 win. Russellville backup QB Lane Reeves was injured late, playing kickoff coverage, but starter Barrett Hughes (69 of 108 for 838 yards) returns this week. LR Catholic impressed in nonconference play but is only 1-3 since. Catholic's helter-skelter defense should slow Russellville's top back Jacob Sparks (93 carries for 450 yards and six TDs).
NORTH LR (14) at LR Central: The 14-point favorite gets 14 days to prepare for next Friday's big game against Bryant.

7A WEST
BENTONVILLE (14) at FS Northside: Northside's lost five straight, allowing 32.4 points. And Northside's offense totaled exactly the same number of points in their first two games (113 points) as the past five Fridays.
FS Southside at HAR-BER (4): Rebels beat Har-Ber twice in 2008, including 8-7 in the semifinals, and this is not a good match-up for the top-ranked Wildcats. Har-Ber has struggled passing and physical FS Southside is better against the run. Five sacks and two interceptions helped Har-Ber avoid an overtime upset last week at Heritage. Southside was riding a five-game win streak before losing to Fayetteville 34-26 last Friday.
Rogers at FAYETTEVILLE (14): Fayetteville, which beat FS Southside last week for the seventh straight time, protects QB Brandon Allen better than it did a month ago. Purple Dogs will likely be the West No. 3 playoff seed and play host in the first round to the winner of this week's Conway at Van Buren game.
Springdale at HERITAGE (7): Heritage took No. 1 Har-Ber to overtime last week. Heritage passes the ball well and is likely headed to the playoffs in just its second season of football. Springdale's defense continues to improve, pressuring FS Northside QB Tanner Knight last week and forcing four turnovers. An upset at Heritage could put the Bulldogs in postseason play.

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