Hooten's Arkansas Football Rankings
Class 7A, Week 3, 2021
Copyright Hooten Publishing, Inc.
 
1. Bryant (2-0)
2. Cabot (3-0)
3. North LR (2-0)
4. Fayetteville (1-2)
5. Conway (2-1)
6. Bentonville (2-1)
7. FS Northside (2-0)

8. Springdale Har-Ber (0-2)

9. Bentonville West (2-1)

10. LR Catholic (0-2)

11. Rogers (2-0)
12. FS Southside (0-3)
13. LR Central (0-3)
14. Heritage (0-2)
15. Springdale (0-3)
16. LR Southwest (0-3)
 
HOOTENS.COM GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 1 Bryant at Longview, Texas.
Texas Class 6A powerhouse Longview last won a state title in 2018, finishing 16-0. The Lobos are 20-4 the past two years and 2-1 this season. Longview beat Marshall and Tyler (Legacy) by a combined score of 60-20 the past two weeks after losing its opener to Denton Ryan 40-7. “They’re a lot like North Little Rock,” says Bryant coach Buck James. “They’re big, strong and physical and have a wide receiver who is one of the best in the nation.”
Bryant makes the 3.5 hour drive with a veteran offensive line and defense playing well, despite replacing nine graduated starters. The three-time defending 7A champions have squashed Class 6A members Benton and Marion by a combined 100-10 this season. Bryant has committed one turnover this year.
 
LAST WEEK
hootens.com correctly predicted winners in 9 of 11 games (82 percent) involving Class 7A teams. For the season, hootens.com is 32-3 (91 percent) in Class 7A.
 
WEEK 3 PREDICTIONS (favored teams in CAPS followed by points spread)
7A CENTRAL
BRYANT (1) at Longview, Texas: Game of the Week.
FS NORTHSIDE (1) at Har-Ber: FS Northside plays with confidence after topping Class 6A No. 1 Greenwood 29-20 last Friday. Northside senior running backs Ty Massey and Sundquist Church, physical and fast, are arguably the top tandem in the state and Har-Ber is better defending the pass than the run. Har-Ber’s offense totals 458 yards weekly, passing for 293.5 yards.
NORTH LR (35) at West Memphis: North LR is plus-7 in turnovers this season with Ws over 7A West members Har-Ber (58-28) and Fayetteville (14-7). North LR totaled just 224 yards last Friday at Fayetteville but senior Jaylen Pettus intercepted a pass at the goal line and senior Josh Thrower returned and interception 69 yards for a TD added by a massive block from the 300-pound noseguard Braxton Johnson. North LR sealed the win at Fayetteville by converting on fourth-and-2 from its own 26-yard line with 3:00 remaining. West Memphis should be much improved in 2022 and 2023. The young Blue Devils have lost the past two Fridays by a combined 75-21 after winning at LR Southwest 20-0 to start the season.
BENTON (16) at LR Catholic: LR Catholic lost its opener at Jonesboro 37-7 and a triple-overtime heartbreaker at Nolan Catholic (40-34) in Fort Worth before last week’s open date. Benton led LR Southwest 56-6 at halftime last Friday. Senior Cain Simmons leads the Panthers with 20 tackles, including 16 stops in the opener against Class 7A No. 1 Bryant. Linebackers Jake Jones and Beau Wright average eight tackles weekly while junior end Hunter Goodwin and sophomore end Peyton McNeely average 3.5 stops per Friday. Senior QB Stran Smith has completed 30 of 48 passes for for 509 yards and 3 TDs this season with no interceptions. Senior receiver Cam Harris has 10 catches for 184 yards. LR Catholic won at Benton 35-28 last season.
CABOT, CONWAY and LR SOUTHWEST are open.

7A WEST
FS NORTHSIDE (1) at Har-Ber: FS Northside playing with confidence after topping Class 6A No. 1 Greenwood last Friday. Northside senior running backs Ty Massey and Sundquist Church, physical and fast, are arguably the top tandem in the state and Har-Ber is better defending the pass than the run. Har-Ber’s offense totals 458 yards weekly, passing for 293.5 yards. 
Heritage at ALMA (1): This game went into overtime last season. Heritage has just one win the past three seasons, and the War Eagles have lost to Class 6A Van Buren and Class 5A Farmington this fall by a combined 75-34. Alma lost to Van Buren 31-20 in the opener and last week to Oklahoma power Poteau 35-12. The Airedales put up 265 yards vs. Poteau, but had three turnovers and converted only one of 12 third downs.
ROGERS, SPRINGDALE, BENTONVILLE, FS SOUTHSIDE, FAYETTEVILLE and BENTONVILLE WEST are open.