Hooten’s Arkansas Football Rankings
Class 7A, Week 10, 2023
Copyright Seventy Seven’s Football Publishing, LLC
 
1.  Conway (9-0)
2.  Fayetteville (9-0)
3.  Bentonville (6-3)
4.  Bryant (8-1)
5.  Bentonville West (7-2)
6.  Rogers (6-3)
7.  Fort Smith Southside (5-4)
8.   Cabot (5-4)
9.   Jonesboro (4-5)
10.  North Little Rock (3-6)
11.  Springdale Har-ber (2-7)
12.  Fort Smith Northside (1-8)
13.  Little Rock Southwest (2-7)
14.  Springdale (2-7)
15.  Rogers Heritage (1-8)
16.  Little Rock Central (0-9)

KEVIN KELLEY’S PICKS

Went 8-0 last week to bring the season total to 69-18 (79.3 percent). No changes in the poll, and it almost doesn’t matter now because the playoffs are about to start.

HOOTENS.COM GAME OF THE WEEK

7A CENTRAL

No. 4 Bryant (8-1, 6-0) at NO. 1 CONWAY (9-0, 6-0)
Buck James is still coaching the No. 1 team in 7A, but he’s doing it in Conway, not in Bryant. Quad Sanders, who I personally think is excellent on the defensive side of the ball, has led the Bryant Hornets to an 8-1 record this year. 
Bryant has won 6 in a row since losing to 5A No. 1 Parkview in Week 4.  Bryant’s most recent win, 52-21 over North Little Rock, was the perfect preparation for its meeting against its former coach. RB James Martin scored on a nifty 14-yard run to get the scoring started. Jordan Walker threw a 60-yard TD pass to Mytorian Singleton. Bryant got the ball back at its 15, setting up an 85-yard TD run by Myron Thrash. The line did its job on the play, and the receivers laid blocks down the field. Later, Walker hit Singleton for a 36-yard TD pass and Bryant cruised after that. The Hornets are playing their best football at the right time.
Conway beat Jonesboro 49-6 on the road after building a 42-6 halftime lead. QB Donovan Omolo threw touchdown passes to Jakeyvion Jackson (12 yards), Jackson Anderson and Cris O’Neal (40 yards). Desmond Davidson ran in a TD before the half. The defense chipped in when Jonah Cecil returned a pass 75 yards for a touchdown. A couple of scores later, there was that 49-6 halftime score.
Early in the year, I would have predicted a double-digit win by Conway in this matchup. The loss to Parkview appeared to expose Bryant on a couple of things, but Sanders and staff have strengthened those weaknesses. I enjoy watching them run and throw the ball effectively. Both teams can beat you on offense or on defense. Conway QB Omolo is playing very well right now, and he has a lot of weapons at his disposal.
I spoke with Coach James and he had this to say about the game. “I am just glad we are in a position to be able to play in a game to this magnitude. … It is by a lot of hard work and dedication from our players and coaches.  Bryant has a very good and experienced football team. The know how to win big games.”
Sanders had this to say: “The only difference in this game and any other game is that it’s the last conference game of the season and it happens to be for the No. 1 seed. 
This is a tough one. Bryant has been in big games over the last couple of years, and like Coach James said, that’s important. Conway has been in a big one already this year and fared well. I think Conway’s advantage will be that Coach James knows his former players well and will defend what they do well and will attack the tendencies that he knows they have. Conway wins this game in a close game. 

No. 10 North Little Rock (3-6, 3-3) at No. 8 CABOT (5-4, 4-2): Cabot ran the ball well en route to defeating Fort Smith Northside 31-7 last week. The Panthers need to do that against the Charging Wildcats. North Little Rock lost to Bryant 52-21, but it managed to put up 3 TDs on a good defense. I believe Cabot will pull away after pounding the Charging Wildcats with the run and then hitting them with play-action passes.

No. 16 Little Rock Central (0-9, 0-6) at No. 9 JONESBORO (4-5, 3-3): I saw a lot of fight out of the Central Tigers last week, especially out of RB Adrian Bing. QB John David Bair threw Bing a 33-yard pass early on a drive, and Bing finished off the drive with a 9-yard TD run. Bair completed a 30-yard pass down the sideline to Micah Frazier and moments later threw the TD to finish that drive as well. Jonesboro lost to 7A No. 1 Conway last week 49-6. A 50-yard TD run by RB Markevious Pickett was a highlight.  I look for Jonesboro to win this game with a balanced attack, and I hope to see Central build on what might have been its best game of the season last week. 

Fort Smith Northside (1-8, 1-5) at LITTLE ROCK SOUTHWEST (2-7, 1-5): The Grizzlies lost at home 31-7 last week to Cabot. They go on the road here to take on the Gryphons, who beat Little Rock Central 41-20 for their second win. Both teams continue to fight in spite of having seasons that have not lived up to expectations. I look for a very close game here with the Gryphons building on the win from last week and mixing up the run and the pass.

7A WEST
Har-Ber (2-7, 2-4) at No. 2 FAYETTEVILLE (9-0, 6-0): Har-ber lost 51-10 last week to Bentonville, and now faces a Fayetteville team that is playing as well as any team in the state. Braden Sprague threw for 250 yards and 2 TDs in the loss. Hayden Wood and Ashton Stewart had the TD reception. Fayetteville remains at No. 2 after beating Rogers Heritage 35-7. Drake Lindsey threw an 80-yard TD pass to Mason Spencer to start the scoring. Lindsey threw a short shovel pass for a TD to Catavion Taylor. Fayetteville led 35-0 throughout the second half until Rogers Heritage put up a score to avoid the shutout. Fayetteville needs to start focusing on how it wants to play in the playoffs, and I look for the Purple Dogs to start doing that this week against the Wildcats. Fayetteville takes this one.  

No. 3 BENTONVILLE (6-3, 5-1) at No. 5 Bentonville West (7-2, 5-1): Bentonville leads this series 7-0, but Bentonville West will fight hard this week to change that trend. Bentonville West beat a good Fort Smith Southside team 24-21 last Friday to come in on a positive note. The Tigers from Bentonville beat Springdale in a 51-10 confidence-builder. Bentonville West trailed 7-3 at the half before waking up in the second half behind Dalton Rice, who scored on a zone read. Southside retook the lead, then Rice threw a game-winning 30-yard TD pass to William Anderson. Bentonville opened the game with a 97-yard kickoff return by Arkansas commit CJ Brown. The Tigers defense contributed when Braylon Hardrick ripped the ball away from a Springdale runner and sprinted to the end zone for a TD. Then, they got a 33- yard TD pass from Cole Slepecki to Que Brown. Slepecki is doing what he needs to do for Bentonville, with starting QB Carter Nye still out, along with a very good defense, as it builds toward a playoff run. I look for Bentonville to move to 8-0 in this series in a close one. The Wolverines could apply pressure to Slepecki, the young quarterback that is subbing in and doing a nice job for the Tigers. That could change the dynamics and give them a chance to win. But again, I think Bentonville is able to do just enough.

Rogers Heritage (1-8, 0-6) at No. 6 ROGERS (6-3, 3-3): Heritage scored late in its game against Fayetteville to avoid the shutout, though it might have been emotionally thinking about this game against cross-town Rogers. The Mounties lead the series 11-4 and have put together a good season, with some close losses. Rogers beat Springdale Har-ber 63-21 last week, with Graycen Cash (4-100 receiving, 2 TDs) continuing his inspirational comeback after suffering an ACL tear in less than 6 months. Rogers will be able to run and throw the ball with balance against Heritage as it continues to build toward the playoffs.

No. 7 FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE (5-4, 4-2) at No. 14 Springdale (2-7, 2-5): Southside lost yet another close game 24-21 Friday night, this time to Bentonville West. The only surprise was that it was a relatively low-scoring game. I have enjoyed watching the Mavericks put up points this season. Southside was leading Bentonville West in the fourth quarter when Bentonville West’s Dalton Rice threw the game-winning touchdown for another close loss. Amari Tucker had just given Southside a 21-17 lead on a 45-yard TD run. Springdale lost 51-10 to a very good Bentonville team, but the Bulldogs played it well for a long stretch in the first half. Springdale fell behind on CJ Brown’s opening kickoff return TD but tied the game on its subsequent drive. Southside will score early and often, but Springdale could hang for a while before the Mavericks pull away. Tucker and Isaac Gregory may be the best 1-2 punch at RB in the state and will shine here.