Hootens.com Rankings
Class 7A, Week 2, 2017
Copyright Hooten Publishing, Inc.
1. Springdale Har-Ber (1-0)
2. Fayetteville (1-0)
3. Bryant (1-0)
4. North Little Rock (1-0)
5. Bentonville West (1-0)
6. Cabot (1-0)
7. Bentonville (0-1)
8. Springdale (1-0)
9. Little Rock Catholic (1-0)
10. Conway (0-1)
11. Fort Smith Southside (0-1)
12. Fort Smith Northside (0-1)
13. Little Rock Central (1-0)
14. Rogers (1-0)
15. Rogers Heritage (0-1)
16. Van Buren (0-1)
 
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 3 Bryant at No. 2 Fayetteville
These two swap spots in the rankings after Bryant barely gets by Class 6A rival Benton 49-42 and Fayetteville rallies for a road win against arguably the best team in Missouri. Four-time state championship coach Billy Dawson’s debut at Fayetteville impressed as the Purple Dogs scored nine points in the final five minutes for a 22-17 win at Blue Springs, Mo. Bryant’s linebacking corps look shaky, missing Tulane signee Marvin Moody. But Coach Buck James’ teams traditionally peak in November, including last year when Bryant won at Har-Ber 23-16 in November to make the school’s first playoff semifinal appearance. Fayetteville junior QB Darrius Bowers (6-2, 190) passed for almost 300 yards while sophomore Huxley Richardson kicked three short-range field goals at Blue Springs. Fayetteville, which starts 12 underclassmen, made 14 tackles for loss.

LAST WEEK
Hootens.com correctly predicted 11 of 13 winners (85 percent) in games involving Class 7A teams.



7A CENTRAL (favored team in CAPS followed by point spread)
Bryant at FAYETTEVILLE (7): Game of the Week.
JONESBORO (1) at Conway: Teams have met six of the past seven years. Jonesboro downed Conway for the first time last September. Jonesboro has won 25 of its last 31 regular-season games, but two of those losses have come to Conway. Conway has lost five of its last six non-conference contests. Jonesboro senior quarterbacks A.J. Aycock and Tyson Williams test Conway's secondary led by all-conference safety Will Kennedy.
LR CATHOLIC (28) at Jacksonville: Catholic creamed Class 6A Jacksonville 31-6 a year ago. Catholic junior running back Samy Johnson sprinted for 139 rushing yards and three TDs and returned a kick 99 yards in last week’s blowout of Sylvan Hills. Jacksonville’s senior Har-Darrius Martin totaled three TDs last week in a 25-21 win over Mills. Martin ended Mills' final drive with an interception.
FS Southside at GREENWOOD (18): Greenwood rides an 11-game win streak against Class 7A competition and five-game streak against Southside. Greenwood scored 34 first-half points last week in a 34-7 victory over Fort Smith Northside. Southside surrendered career-highs to Har-Ber junior quarterback Grant Allen, who completed 19 passes for 379 yards and six TDs. Greenwood counters with University of Arkansas commit Connor Noland, who completed 13 of 24 passes for 164 yards and two TDs in the first half against Northside.
EL DORADO (1) at Cabot: Class 7A Cabot eased past El Dorado 28-13 a year ago. El Dorado crushed Class 5A Camden Fairview 29-7 last week. El Dorado running back Richard Kesee sprinted for 110 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Cabot erased an early 12-0 deficit last week at Pine Bluff in a 20-12 win. Cabot will try to limit El Dorado's possessions behind running back Adam Flores, who rushed for 120 yards a week ago.
LR McClellan at NORTH LR (35): LR McClellan ran for more than 400 yards in last week's 38-point win over Sheridan. North  Little Rock received a boost with the summer transfer of running back Oscar Adaway from LR Central. Adaway ran eight times for 103 yards and two TDs in last week's 41-point win at Maumelle. 

Van Buren at FS NORTHSIDE (7): Neither feel good after losing to smaller schools last week, but Van Buren simply doesn’t believe it can beat Northside (spanked 42-14 a year ago). Class 6A Greenwood has no mental hurdles with Northside, though, leading the Grizzlies 34-0 by halftime last Friday. Van Buren lost its Super Bowl to Class 5A rival neighbor Alma last week for the 7th straight season.

LR Central at BENTONVILLE WEST (14): Bentonville West lived up to its preseason hype, pounding Pryor (Okla.) 49-14 last week. Pryor beat West by 21 last year. LR Central hammered Rogers Heritage 30-12 with standout senior quarterback Jacob Howard completing 16 of 23 passes for 152 yards and two TDs.


7A WEST
Bryant at FAYETTEVILLE (7): Game of the Week.
Alma at SPRINGDALE (1): Alma coach Doug Loughridge calls Springdale defensive end Isaiah Nichols “the best player in the state.” The Bulldogs battled by Conway 19-17 last Friday. Alma’s defense stopped Van Buren four times inside the 20-yard line last week. Junior linebacker Keegan Rosebeary led the Airedales with 10 stops, while senior Tyler Alexander made seven tackles and forced one fumble.
Russellville at HERITAGE (3): The Cyclones have won the past two meetings. Russellville led 14-0 after a quarter last week at Morrilton but lost 21-20. Russellville returns every starter in the secondary from the 2016 Class 6A state champions, which could test Landers AutoGroup Super Team Class 7A quarterback Trey Kitterman of Heritage.
Bentonville at BIXBY, OKLA. (7): Bixby jumped traditional power Jenks, Okla. (0-2), 35-18 last week while Bentonville got belted 35-8 at Kansas City Rockhurst.
LR Central at BENTONVILLE WEST (14): Bentonville West lived up to its preseason hype, pounding Pryor (Okla.) 49-14 last week. Pryor beat West by 21 last year. LR Central hammered Rogers Heritage 30-12 with standout senior quarterback Jacob Howard completing 16 of 23 passes for 152 yards and two TDs.
Van Buren at FS NORTHSIDE (7): Neither feel good about what happened last week, but Van Buren simply doesn’t believe it can beat Northside (spanked 42-14 a year ago). Class 6A Greenwood has no mental hurdles with Northside, though, leading the Grizzlies 34-0 by halftime last Friday. Van Buren lost its Super Bowl to Class 5A rival neighbor Alma last week for the 7th straight season.

HAR-BER (15) at Jeff City (Mo.): Top-ranked Har-Ber off to a fast start with junior QB Grant Allen completing 19 passes for 379 yards and six TDs in last week’s blowout win at FS Southside. Har-Ber jumped Jeff City 54-14 a year ago.
Claremore (Okla.) at ROGERS (1): This will be Claremore’s third game in eight days. Rogers trailed by 12 points with 3:30 remaining at Siloam Springs last Friday but recovered two fumbles in the fourth quarter, including one at the 1-yard line with 2 minutes remaining, to win 34-33.