Hootens.com Rankings
Class 2A, Week 9, 2011
Copyright Hooten Publishing, Inc.

1. Magazine (8-0)
2. Danville (6-2)
3. Junction City (5-1)
4. Bearden (6-1)
5. Carlisle (8-0)
6. E. Poinsett County (6-0)
7. Magnet Cove (7-1)
8. Hazen (7-0-1)
9. McCrory (6-2)
10. Gurdon (7-1)
11. Salem (7-1)
12. Mineral Springs (7-1)
13. Mountainburg (7-1)
14. Spring Hill (7-1)
15. Bigelow (5-2-1)
16. Hackett (5-3)
17. Norphlet (4-3)
18. Parkers Chapel (4-3)
19. Strong (3-3)
20. Des Arc (4-4)
21. England (4-4)
22. Quitman (6-2)
23. Conway Christian (6-2)
24. Cross County (2-4)
25. Marked Tree (3-5)
26. Mount Ida (4-4)
27. Dierks (4-4)
28. Horatio (3-3)
29. Hampton (3-4)
30. Walnut Ridge (3-4)
31. Murfreesboro (4-4)
32. Clarendon (2-6)
33. Union Christian (2-5)
34. J.C. Westside (4-4)
35. Poyen (3-5)
36. Woodlawn (1-7)
37. Two Rivers (2-6)
38. Cedar Ridge (1-6)
39. Augusta (1-5-1)
40. Mountain Pine (0-8)
41. Palestine-Wheatley (1-6)
42. Foreman (0-8)
43. Hector (1-6)
44. Western Yell County (1-7)
45. Decatur (1-7)
46. Marvell (0-8)
47. Hartford (0-7)

HOOTENS.COM GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 9 McCrory at No. 5 Carlisle
McCrory junior tailback Logan Best leads the state with 1,668 yards rushing (and 17 TDs), running behind a line that averages 260 pounds and includes senior tackle Jemar Clark (6-6, 305; 5.2 speed). McCrory played without Clark and starting QB Collin Campbell in a 14-6 loss to 3-2A member Hazen. Campbell has passed for 550 yards and nine TDs and run for 328 yards and four TDs this year. McCrory battled No. 6 EPC into the fourth quarter before losing 34-14. All-state LB Cody Davis leads McCrory with more than 100 tackles.

McCrory presents the toughest test to date for unbeaten Carlisle. Carlisle senior QB and team leader Zach King also paces the Bison in receiving when junior Chris Hart moves to QB in the Spread. But Carlisle's forte remains running the football out of its Double Wing set, featuring sophomores Bo Weddle (740 yards; 10 ypc) and Deron Ricks (411 yards; 10 ypc) and senior Braxton Petrus (469 yards; 9.4 ypc). Weddle, King and two-time all-league LB Ty Vaughn top Carlisle's tackle chart.

TV SHOW
Hooten's Arkansas Football airs 7:30 p.m. Thursdays on KARZ (Z42 in Little Rock), Suddenlink Cable 22 in Northeast Arkansas and On Demand in Northwest Arkansas (Cox Ch. 644).

LAST WEEK
Hootens.com correctly picked 20 of 22 (91 percent) games involving Class 2A teams. Hootens.com is 171-41 (81 percent) for the season.

WEEK 9 PREDICTIONS (favored team in ALL CAPS followed by point spread)
3-2A
Augusta at SALEM (40): Salem hung with No. 6 EPC for a half last week but could not contain EPC senior QB Darius Barnes (328 yards) in a 49-7 loss. Augusta's season highlight came Week 1 in a 14-14 tie at No. 9 Hazen.
Marked Tree at E. POINSETT COUNTY (35): No. 6 EPC blew out No. 11 Salem in the second half last week to win 49-7 with senior QB Darius Barnes running for 210 yards and two TDs and junior RB Jammar Sturdivant rushing 11 times for 133 yards and a TD. Marked Tree ran the football well early in the season but lost three starters to season-ending injuries and has lost four games in a row.
WALNUT RIDGE (3) at Cross County: Walnut Ridge healthy again, minus QB Payton Poole (knee), while Cross County scrambled last week to replace its quarterback who quit. Junior Dylan Hudson tried to run a Wildcat package last week at McCrory (trailed 36-0 at halftime), but Coach Steve Williams says he'll move senior Clifton Eades to QB this week and run his patented power I.
Cedar Ridge at QUITMAN (19): Cedar Ridge notched its first win of the season last week, 40-21 over Augusta. Quitman (6-2) has lost to 5-2A front-runners Bigelow (43-15) and Magnet Cove (48-14).
McCrory at CARLISLE (12): See 2A Game of the Week.

4-2A
Decatur at UNION CHRISTIAN (33): UC must win to stay in playoff contention.
J.C. Westside at HACKETT (8): Hackett senior speedster Dylan Yazell (4.37 speed) has rushed 86 times for 1,326 yards (15.5 ypc) and 16 TDs. He averages 35 yards per kick return and 24.2 yards per punt return.
MAGAZINE (21) at Mountainburg: Danville, Strong and Mountainburg were the three 2A teams last year to come within 10 points of defending state champion Magazine. Mountainburg lost 24-14. Mountainburg junior QB Nathan Jones is on pace to pass for a school-record 2,000 yards. All-4-2A receiver Wesley Lemonier has a team-high 600 yards. Senior Garth Webster leads the Dragons in tackles, while junior Stephen Stearmon (6-5, 280) has batted down 10 passes. Junior safety Frank James has intercepted a (single season) school-record seven passes this fall.
WESTERN YELL (10) at Hartford: WYC keeps Hartford winless.
DANVILLE (28) at Poyen: Poyen rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit last week to defeat Mountain Pine 32-22. Danville is on the verge of losing to just one conference opponent (Magazine) in three years.

5-2A
Hector at BIGELOW (42): Bigelow has started slowly in multiple games this fall. The Panthers likely play Conway Christian Week 10 for the No. 2 playoff seed. The 5-2A's second and third seeds face difficult playoff draws.
Conway Christian at MAGNET COVE (20): No. 7 Magnet Cove throttled Quitman 48-14 last week to stay on top of the 5-2A standings, while Conway Christian rolled up 470 yards in a 41-0 blowout of Hector. A Conway Christian upset would create a three-way tie for first place with Magnet Cove, Conway Christian and Bigelow.
DANVILLE (28) at Poyen: Poyen rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit last week to defeat Mountain Pine 32-22. Danville is on the verge of losing to just one conference opponent (Magazine) in three years.
TWO RIVERS (2) at Mountain Pine: Mountain Pine stays winless.

6-2A
DES ARC (42) at Marvell: Des Arc getting better as the season progresses, whipping 8-2A member Woodlawn 42-14 last week.
England at HAZEN (13): No. 8 Hazen cannot afford to look ahead to its Week 10 showdown with No. 5 Carlisle. Carlisle handled England 30-14 three weeks ago.
Palestine-Wheatley at CLARENDON (6): Clarendon stays in the playoff hunt. The league's fifth seed likely travels to No. 2 Danville in the first round.
McCrory at CARLISLE (12): See 2A Game of the Week.

7-2A
MOUNT IDA (9) at Horatio: Surging Mount Ida has won three of its past four games. Junior RB Josh Hall leads the Lions in rushing. Hall ran 21 times for 166 yards and four TDs last week in a 49-20 win over Murfreesboro. Junior QB Dustin Elder completed three of four passes for 54 yards. Mount Ida converted eight of 12 third down and three of four fourth down conversions. Senior DT Swayze Brown spearheads the Mount Ida defense.
DIERKS (38) at Foreman: Dierks had put up big numbers before losing to Gurdon 40-7 last week. The Outlaws get back on track Friday night at winless Foreman.
Murfreesboro at GURDON (21): Murfreesboro gave up 413 yards and 49 points last week to Mount Ida. Gurdon sophomore QB Austin Kirkpatrick has completed 70 percent of his passes for more than 600 yards.
Spring Hill at MINERAL SPRINGS (2): Two explosive offenses collide. Mineral Springs averages 460 yards and 44 points per game. Junior RB Rashad Williams was injured in the first quarter Week 3 but should finally be 100 percent Friday night. Williams carried three times last week for 60 yards at Foreman. Junior tackle Derrick Muldrow leads the Hornets with 89 tackles, including 20 for loss. Spring Hill senior Kevin Aaron paces the Bears with more than 800 rushing yards.

8-2A
BEARDEN (18) at Parkers Chapel: Bearden senior QB/S Defonta Lowe (severe ankle sprain) and junior WR/CB Zach Craig (concussion) are not expected to play this week after going down last week in a 41-0 win over Hampton. Bearden held Hampton to 81 yards on 23 rushing attempts. Parkers Chapel stunned Strong 19-14 last week, holding senior QB Kenneth Dixon to 52 yards after Dixon took off 99 yards for a TD on his first carry of the night. PC junior Philip Hay ran 37 times for 147 yards at Strong.
JUNCTION CITY (37) at Hampton: The Dragons employ superior team speed and tackling on defense. Hampton managed 176 yards and seven first downs last week in a 41-0 loss to Bearden. Junction City was idle last week for the second time this season.
Strong at NORPHLET (2): Norphlet outscored Parkers Chapel 45-33 Week 5. Parkers Chapel beat Strong 19-14 last week by running the football, slowing down Strong QB Kenneth Dixon, creating two turnovers and forcing Strong to pass. Norphlet was idle last week.
WOODLAWN is open.