Hooten’s Arkansas Football Rankings

Class 7A, Week 7, 2023

Copyright Seventy Sevens Football Publishing, LLC

1. Conway (6-0)

2. Fayetteville (6-0)

3. Bentonville (4-2)

4. Bryant (5-1)

5. Bentonville West (4-2)

6. Rogers (4-2)

7. Fort Smith Southside (3-3)

8. Cabot (3-3)

9. North Little Rock (2-4)

10. Jonesboro (2-4)

11.  Springdale Har-ber (2-4)

12.  Fort Smith Northside (1-5)

13.   Little Rock Southwest (1-5)

14.   Springdale (2-4)

15.   Rogers Heritage (1-5)

16.   Little Rock Central (0-6)

KEVIN KELLEY LAST WEEK

Hootens.com correctly picked 6 of 8 (75 percent) games involving 7A teams to improve to 47-16 (74.6 percent) for the season.  Went with a couple of what I thought were underdogs — Little Rock Southwest and Rogers — and both got beat. Bentonville West scored a mild upset but it does lead to a drop in the rankings for Rogers. Conway beat Cabot more convincingly than I thought. Southside is still scoring points, so a few moves were made in the middle of the rankings. We all know right now doesn’t matter nearly as much as the end.

WEEK 7 PREDICTIONS (favored team in All Caps and highlighted)

HOOTENS.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (7A WEST)

No. 3 Bentonville (4-2) at No. 2 FAYETTEVILLE (6-0, 3-0)

It’s an easy choice for the game of the week. Bentonville at Fayetteville will help answer a lot of my own questions.

Bentonville struck early in with a 42-yard pass from Carter Nye to JJ Spaford down to the 1, where they punched it in on the next play.  Nye again goes to the air to Luke Kuhn for a 22-yard TD pass on the ensuing play. Nye hit Kuhn again on a 42-yard TD pass moments later and never looked back en route to an 84-0 victory.

Fayetteville beat a feisty Southside team last week 45-31. Drake Lindsey picked up where he left off the week before with an early 8-yard TD pass to Landon Lucke. The Bulldogs were outgained 479-416 by Southside. I talk about the good offense that Southside has, but that does make me question this Bentonville game. Bentonville will attack the weakest parts of this defense.

I do think that Fayetteville and Lindsey will be able to score, so I look for a game with both teams in the low 40s, and Fayetteville ultimately wins.

No. 11 Springdale Har-ber (2-4, 2-1) at No. 5  BENTONVILLE WEST (4-2, 2-1): Har-ber beat cross-town rival Springdale 41-24 last Friday. It was tight early after the Bulldogs went for it on 4th-and-1 at midfield in the first quarter but were denied by the Wildcats. Har-ber drove to the Springdale 1 but was also stopped on 4th down. Bentonville West QB Braden Sprague hit Evan Curry for a 54-yard TD pass to make it 7-0, and the scoring started.  Bentonville West also won last week, beating Rogers 31-25 to move up to No. 5 in the rankings. Dalton Rice started the scoring with a well-designed play-action pass/tunnel screen that turned into a 5-yard TD pass to Harrison Vinson. Rogers tied it up right away, and it was destined to be a tight finish, which it was. Rice threw a late 21-yard TD to Vinson to complete the come-from-behind win. Coach Bryan Pratt praised his defense in the win. Bentonville West should win this game and position itself for the playoff run coming up in a few weeks.

No. 6 ROGERS (4-2, 1-2) at No. 14 Springdale (2-4. 1-2): This game matches teams that are looking to bounce back from difficult circumstances last week.  The Mounties held the lead late against Bentonville West after Rogers QB Dane Williams threw a TD pass to Maybry Verser with 43 seconds left to play to pull Rogers within 1 point. A 2-point conversion pass from Jeff Regan to Jacob Jenkins put Rogers up 25-24. Bentonville West took over at its 36 after a squib kick. Rice completed 2 passes to Jaxson Brust to move into Rogers territory, setting up Rice’s winning throw to Harrison Vinson, a 21-yard pass, with 13 seconds to play. Springdale lost to cross-town rival Har-ber. The Bulldogs played tough but couldn’t handle the Wildcats. I look for Rogers to get back in the win column this week.

No. 7 FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE (3-3, 0-3) at No. 15 Rogers Heritage (1-5, 0-3): The Southside Mavericks lost to undefeated Fayetteville, but it fought to the end in a 45-31 result. Isaac Gregory scored Soupthside’s first TD on an 8-yard run. Gregory ended with 98 yards rushing. All-purpose star Amari Tucker was held to 60 yards rushing and 44 receiving (104 total yards isn’t quiet for most). Quarterback Carter Zimmerman (264 passing, TD; 77 rushing, 2 TDs) was the star for the Mavericks. Greyson York led the way with 120 receiving yards and a TD. Heritage needs to come out angry after last week to avoid another tough game. Southside can light it up as well as anyone when it is on. 

7A CENTRAL

No. 1 CONWAY (6-0, 3-0) at No. 12 Fort Smith Northside (1-5, 1-2): The Wampus Cats put up 52 points but got help from the defense, including interceptions from Jacoby Wade (2) and Noah Files and sacks from Keshon Uekman and Joseph Washington as the defense held Cabot to 222 total yards. Conway QB Donovyn Omolo did what he does, throwing TDs, including a nifty one to WR Cris O’neal. Coach Buck James and staff have the Wampus Cats playing really well on both sides of the ball right now. The Grizzlies enter the game after losing 55-41 to Jonesboro. McClain Moody threw a beautiful TD pass to Ezra Phillips and another to Cameron Massey, and they’ll need a lot of that this Friday. But Northside runs into another hurricane of sorts against this Conway team that looks unbeatable right now.

No. 13 Little Rock Southwest (1-5, 1-3) at No. 4 BRYANT (5-1, 3-0): The Gryphons come in off a loss at North Little Rock, and a trip to Bryant won’t make a bounce back easily. The Hornets haven’t lost since a Week 2 loss to Little Rock Parkview. Bryant beat Little Rock Central 45-6, the first of 2 games against teams from the Little Rock School District. Southwest made some plays against the Charging Wildcats, including a 50-yard TD pass from Chase Forte to Logan White. They’ll need more explosive plays to stay competitive against one of the top 7A teams.  It won’t be enough as Bryant should win this going away. 

No. 8 CABOT (3-3, 2-1) at No. 16 Little Rock Central (0-6, 0-3): This game brings back memories of when these 2 teams dominated the state at times in the past. The Panthers lost to top-ranked Conway last week. Cooper Powell had one of the highlights for the Panthers with an early rushing TD. The Tigers, the only winless team in 7A,  come in off a 45-6 loss to No. 5 Bryant.

NO. 10 JONESBORO (2-4, 1-2) at No. 9 North Little Rock (2-4, 2-1): Both teams come into the game off a win and look to build momentum late in the season. The Charging Wildcats beat Little Rock Southwest 44-13.  Javonte Harris’ short TD run set the tone for the game. A little later, QB Tyson Bradden threw consecutive passes to receiver Malachi Muhammad, the second of which was a TD pass, and it put North Little Rock up 14-0. Jonesboro posted a season-high 55 points in its win over Northside. Quarterback Asa Myers hit Chris Stacy with a 6-yard TD pass to get things started. Markevious Pickett’s TD run gave Jonesboro more room. Myers later hit Stacy for another TD in the second quarter to put the Hurricane ahead before the half. Jonesboro’s defense scored on a fumble recovery by Markeice Stafford after a bad punt snap landed in the end zone. This should be a good game, but I look for the Hurricane to start a win streak while stopping North Little Rock from doing the same.