Hootens.com Rankings
Class 7A, Week 9, 2012
Copyright Hooten Publishing, Inc.

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

HOOTENS.COM GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 6 Conway at Class 6A No. 1 Greenwood.
Conway looks to snap Greenwood's 32-game win streak. Greenwood beat Class 7A FS Southside 45-21 last Friday, a week after Conway lost at FS Southside 35-21.
Greenwood coach Rick Jones, dubbed the bespectacled professor of football by hootens.com while winning the Farm Bureau Awards Class 5A Coach of the Year in 2011, moved standout receiver Drew Morgan to running back last week and he rushed for 210 yards on 17 carries. The hard-to-tackle Arkansas State commit carried 14 times for 177 yards and four TDs in the second half.
Southside committed five turnovers but only trailed Greenwood 24-21 late in the third quarter.
Greenwood can win a conference championship in its first season as a member of Class 6A with a victory this week. A Conway triumph keeps its hopes of sharing a league title alive.
Conway led 14-6 at halftime last week before pulling away from LR Parkview 35-6. Parkview was tied with Greenwood 21-21 in the fourth quarter four weeks weeks ago.
Conway's offensive line is better than FS Southside's front and its skill-position players will challenge Greenwood. Senior running back Jeff Anderson (6-0, 217) has rushed for more 1,189 yards (7.9 yards per carry) and slot back Brandon Cox (4.35 speed) is an Arkansas State commit. Both are on the Farm Bureau Awards watch list for Class 7A/6A Offensive Player of the Year.
Conway rushes the passer well and looks to pressure Greenwood standout junior QB Jabe Burgess, already receving interest from the University of Nebraska and others, but the Wampus Cat secondary is suspect. Conway's kick and punt return teams likely have an advantage in this matchup.
Greenwood should be emotionally spent, too, after last week's showdown with Southside. But the Bulldogs are playing with lots of confidence. And Morgan, who plays receiver, running back, linebacker and is a special teams standout, is the conference's best player.

LAST WEEK
Hootens.com correctly predicted eight of 11 games (73 percent) involving Class 7A teams. For the season, hootens.com has correctly predicted 77 of 96 games (80 percent).

TV SHOW
Hooten's Arkansas Football airs Saturday mornings at 8:30 on KARZ 42 (Little Rock) and Fox 24 (Fayetteville/Fort Smith) and Sunday nights at 11 p.m. on KAIT 8 (Jonesboro), featuring the top players and teams from across the state. Fayetteville's Brandyn Young will be featured as the Arkansas Air Guard Scholar Athlete of the Week.

WEEK 9 PREDICTIONS (favored team in ALL CAPS followed by point spread)
7A/6A CENTRAL
Conway at GREENWOOD (15): Game of the Week.
LR PARKVIEW (1) at LR Catholic (Thurs.): Both lost to FS Northside 42-35 over the past two weeks. Four of Catholic's seven losses have been by 14 points or less. Parkview has lost five conference games by a 23 point average.
FS NORTHSIDE (28) at LR Hall: Northside rides a two-game win streak and likely finishes as the No. 6 playoff seed, possibly playing at Bryant in the first round for the second straight season. Hall rides a 14-game losing streak, last winning Sept. 16, 2011.
Russellville at FS SOUTHSIDE (8): FS Southside tries to regroup after last week's emotional loss at Class 6A No. 1 Greenwood. FS Southside likely still earns a first-round playoff bye if it wins out, but a loss could put the Rebels on the road in the opening round. Russellville, ranked No. 6 in Class 6A with a 6-2 record, throws the deep ball well. Quarterback Cody Jones and slotback Jalen Curtis, both juniors, are a dangerous duo and could help the Cyclones make a deep playoff run. FS Southside fields four seniors in its secondary, including two, three-year starters.

7A/6A EAST
NORTH LR (28) at Mountain Home: As North LR eyes a deep run in the 7A playoffs, the Charging Wildcats face their sixth Class 6A opponent and fourth straight. They've faced little resistance lately, winning the past two Fridays by a combined 94-13.
WEST MEMPHIS (1) at Searcy: Searcy has never beaten West Memphis. These teams are tied for third place in the East. West Memphis rallied to win in the fourth quarter the past two weeks against Marion and Cabot.
LR CENTRAL (7) at Marion: LR Central rides a two game win streak but its three victories this season are over teams with a combined 6-18 record. The Tigers play at No. 2 North LR next Thursday.
JONESBORO (4) at Cabot: Cabot squandered an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead last week, losing at West Memphis 23-20. Cabot's four losses have been by an average of 10 points. The Panthers beat No. 16 LR Catholic for its only win over a Class 7A school this season.

7A/6A SOUTH
Lake Hamilton at BRYANT (22): Bulky Lake Hamilton edged Benton 42-35 last week. Agile Bryant beat Benton 55-21 last month. Bryant averages 44 points against conference competition. The Hornets could finish as No. 3 playoff seed and play host to FS Northside in the first round just like a year ago. And the winner would likely play at FS Southside in the second round just like last year.

7A/6A WEST
Har-Ber at FAYETTEVILLE (1): Har-Ber has won four straight over Fayetteville since losing to the Purple Dogs 28-7 in the 2007 state championship game. Fayetteville safety and Arkansas Razorback commit Alex Brignoni (19 career interceptions) meets Har-Ber receiver and Arkansas State commit Nick Byrne (31 catches for 533 yards and eight TDs). Fayetteville's Brandyn Young will be featured as the Arkansas Air Guard Scholar Athlete of the Week on Hooten's Arkansas Football TV show 8:30 a.m. Saturday on Fox 24.
HERITAGE (21) at Van Buren: Heritage built a 21-0 lead in less than nine minutes last week against Springdale. Heritage intercepted three passes while junior QB Josh Qualls lit up the Springdale secondary like a Jack-O-Lantern, passing for 290 yards and three TDs to end the War Eagles three-game losing skid. After battling tough for weeks, Van Buren committed five turnovers last Friday in a 55-7 flogging by Bentonville.
Siloam Springs at ROGERS (8): Rogers, losers of three straight to Top 4 teams and three QBs during the skid, welcomes struggling Siloam Springs. Rogers has played four QBs this season, lost its top two fullbacks and a slotback to injuries, and scored its only offensive TD in three weeks last Friday. A victory this week likely sends Rogers to the playoffs for the first time since 2006 when it played for a state title.
BENTONVILLE (42) at Springdale: The state's top-ranked team relaxes for its 25th straight conference win while Fayetteville, Bentonville's next opponent, wars with Springdale's superior Har-Ber Wildcats. Bentonville started two sophomore offensive tackles last week and still totaled close to 450 yards by halftime at Van Buren. Springdale junior speedster Andre Murray leads the West with 1,218 yards rushing despite being held to 35 last Friday at Heritage.