Hootens.com Rankings
Class 2A, Week 10, 2012
Copyright Hooten Publishing, Inc.

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

HOOTENS.COM GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 16 England at No. 7 Carlisle
Almost every team in the 6-2A is young, including 2011 state runner-up Carlisle and up-and-coming England. England sophomore QB Tyrik Harris is one of the better athletes in the conference, a dual-threat QB who ran for England's only score in last week's 26-6 loss to Hazen. Harris completed 12 of 14 passes for 178 yards and four TDs in a rout of Des Arc. He passed for 320 yards and three TDs against Brinkley. England senior linebackers Hollis Hankins and Curtis Rogers pace a Lion defense that has allowed 105 points over the past seven weeks. Carlisle counters with senior QB Chris Hart, who has completed 65 percent of his passes for 14 touchdowns with just one interception. Junior RB Deron Ricks paces the Bison with 800 rushing yards behind an undersized line that's anchored by senior Clayton Fields (6-2, 285). First-year inside linebacker Jacob Jones leads Carlisle in tackles, while junior tackle Christian Cotton has played well up front.

TV SHOW
Hooten's Arkansas Football airs 8:30 a.m. Saturdays on KARZ 42 (Little Rock) and Fox 24 (Fayetteville/Fort Smith) and 11 p.m. Sundays on KAIT 8 (Jonesboro), featuring the top players and teams from across the state. McCrory senior center Colten Davis will be featured as an Arkansas Air Guard Scholar Athlete of the Week.

LAST WEEK
Hootens.com correctly picked 24 of 25 games (96 percent) involving Class 2A teams. Hootens.com has picked 221 of 257 games (86 percent) this season.

WEEK 10 PREDICTIONS (favored team in ALL CAPS followed by point spread)
3-2A
Cross County at SALEM (35) (Thurs.): No. 4 Salem on brink of best year since starting football in 1975. Barring an upset loss this week to Cross County, the Greyhounds will lock up their first conference championship. Salem (9-0) posted school-best nine wins in 2000 and 2011 and seven wins in 1976 and 2001 (modern playoff era 1969-present). The often dreaded first-round bye awaits Week 11.
WALNUT RIDGE (37) at Cedar Ridge (Thurs.): No. 10 Walnut Ridge looks like a lock for the third playoff seed and a first-round trip to tradition-rich No. 3 Rison.
MCCRORY (18) at Augusta (Thurs.): Big rivalry game but it's been close only half of the time lately. McCrory won 38-0 last year, 12-6 in 2010, 35-6 in 2009 and 23-18 in 2008. Augusta last defeated McCrory 32-12 in 2007. McCrory senior center Colten Davis will be featured as an Arkansas Air Guard Scholar Athlete of the Week on this week's TV show..
E. POINSETT COUNTY (15) at Marked Tree (Thurs.): Five turnovers crippled EPC last week in the 30-6 loss to Salem. Barring upsets, EPC will play host to No. 12 Norphlet, a battled-tested team from the 8-2A that has not won a playoff game since 2006.

4-2A
Hartford at HACKETT (42): No. 14 Hackett reigns over the 4-2A for the first time since 2007. England, from the 6-2A, could return to Hackett for a possible rematch in the second round of the playoffs. Hackett whipped England 45-14 in the season opener.
J.C. Westside at HECTOR (2): Hector won three games from 2007-2011 (did not field team in 2009). A Hector win coupled with a Decatur win this week would give Hector a first-round playoff game at home. Hector senior QB Logan Riley has transitioned nicely from the Dead T to a Multiple attack, completing 57 precent of his passes for more than 1,000 yards. J.C. Westside seniors Chris McCormick (6-2, 200) and Taylor Houston run downhill behind a large line.
Magazine at DECATUR (7): Magazine has really struggled offensively (19 ppg), managing eight points last week in a 27-point loss to Mountainburg and one kickoff return for a TD in a 12-8 loss to J.C. Westside.
Mountainburg at POCOLA, OK (2): Pocola is 5-3 and a playoff team in Oklahoma. Its wide-open attack features four and five wide receivers. Mountainburg senior DE and leading tackler Tynr Johnson and fellow DE Cody Gagliano must contain and get a pass rush to give the Dragon secondary a chance to make plays.
Western Yell at UNION CHRISTIAN (16): Battle of one-win teams goes to UC.

5-2A
Bigelow at CONWAY CHRISTIAN (9) (Thurs.): Magnet Cove blitzed and harassed No. 11 Conway Christian QB Tanner Stevenson into a few poor throws last week, but the senior still completed 19 of 34 attempts for 355 yards and six TDs. Conway Christian put up 407 yards on Magnet Cove, the most the Panthers have allowed this season. No. 17 Bigelow gave up 217 passing yards and a TD two weeks ago in a 20-6 loss at Magnet Cove.
Cutter M. Star at MAGNET COVE (28) (Thurs.): No. 8 Magnet Cove matched explosive Conway Christian last week with 475 yards in a 43-39 victory. Magnet Cove CB Austin Stringfellow returned an interception 40 yards for a TD on the second play of the game.
MOUNT IDA (10) at Poyen (Thurs.): Mount Ida clinches the fourth playoff seed and likely heads to Carlisle in the first round of the playoffs. Poyen has won back-to-back games for the first time in its three years of varsity football.
QUITMAN (35) at Mountain Pine (Thurs.): Winless Mountain Pine has scored 27 points this season.

6-2A
Marvell at PAL.-WHEATLEY (30) (Thurs.): Despite losing to Brinkley last week, P-W likely secures the fifth playoff seed.
England at CARLISLE (10): See Game of the Week.
Des Arc at HAZEN (18): No. 9 Hazen does not want to share the league title. With a backup center and RB Lucas Tenison at QB, the Hornets dropped upstart England 26-6 a week ago. Tenison ran 55 yards for a TD and completed four passes for 83 yards.
Clarendon at BRINKLEY (1): Brinkley keeps its slim playoff hopes alive.

7-2A
GURDON (14) at Foreman (Thurs.): Turnovers doomed No. 5 Gurdon last week in a 28-26 loss at No. 2 Bearden: an interception in the Bearden end zone, an interception at Gurdon 9-yard line and a fumble at the Bearden 6-yard line. Gurdon statistically dominated Bearden, 320 yards and 16 first downs to 186 yards and six first downs. Foreman lost to Murfreesboro 46-20 last week but trailed just  22-20 before junior QB Jordan Hardwrick injured a knee.
MURFREESBORO (8) at Dierks (Thurs.): A Dierks win likely forces a three-way tie for second with Dierks, Mineral Springs and Murfreesboro, but Murfreesboro already has enough points to win the tiebreaker and claim the second playoff seed and first-round home playoff game.
MINERAL SPRINGS (35) at Spring Hill (Thurs.): Mineral Springs likely claims the third playoff seed and a first-round game at home.

8-2A
RISON (28) at Hampton (Thurs.): Rison ran for 322 yards last week (often vs. 10 defenders in the box) in a 21-8 win over Strong. Junior RB Jokenzie Broughton paced Rison with 122 yards and two TDs on 21 carries.
Hermitage at WOODLAWN (1) (Thurs.):: Kudos to Hermitage for simply finishing the season with barely enough bodies to play. The Hermits have actually scored more points (34) than Woodlawn (30) this season.
BEARDEN (8) at Strong: For two weeks in a row, No. 2 Bearden has lost on the stats sheet but won on the scoreboard. Bearden managed just six first downs and 186 yards but took advantage of three turnovers last week to defeat No. 5 Gurdon 28-26. Strong reached the Rison 7-, 7-, 11- and 23-yard lines but could not score an offensive TD in a 21-8 loss at Rison.
Norphlet at JUNCTION CITY (15): Top-ranked Junction City has a record of 62-10 overall and 40-4 in conference play over the past five seasons. Norphlet likely will be a dangerous fourth playoff seed traveling to No. 6 EPC in the first round.