Hootens.com Rankings

Class 7A, Week 12, 2012

Copyright Hooten Publishing, Inc.

1. Bentonville (10-0)

2. North Little Rock (9-1)

3. Fayetteville (7-3)

4. Springdale Har-Ber (7-4)

5. Fort Smith Southside (7-3)

6. Conway (8-2)

7. West Memphis (8-3)

8. Cabot (7-4)

9. Rogers Heritage (7-4)

10. Bryant (6-5)

11. Little Rock Central (4-7)

12. Rogers (6-5)

13. Springdale (4-6)

14. Fort Smith Northside (3-7)

15. Van Buren (2-8)

16. Little Rock Catholic (2-8)

HOOTENS.COM GAME OF THE WEEK

No. 8 Cabot at No. 2 North Little Rock.

North LR won at Cabot 33-14 in the East conference opener, starting its run to an outright league title and first-round bye. Cabot rides a three-game win streak after upsetting Bryant 28-21 on the road last Friday.

Cabot has no stars, using Kason Kimbrell, Kyle Edgar, Chris Henry, Zach Launius, Russ Rankin, Max Carroll and a junior-laden offensive line to power its Dead T. Cabot clawed more than 720 yards rushing over the past two weeks. Edgar totaled 235 yards rushing over the final two weeks of the regular season. Henry (5-8, 155) rushed for more than 140 yards two of the past three games.
North LR’s only setback came Week 2 at Longview, Texas 30-14. University of Alabama recruit Altee Tenpenny (6-0, 215; 1,100 yards rushing) and junior Juan Day (4.5 speed, 700 yards rushing) spur an offense that runs on more than 60 percent of its snaps. Strong-armed sophomore Heath Land (6-0, 185) and heady junior Payton Holmes (6-10, 170) share time at quarterback. North LR’s defense features nine seniors and Cabot, ironically, is the only team to complete a scoring pass against it this fall.
“We had our best week of practices last week,” Coach Brad Bolding says. “We got a lot done. Our seniors showed a lot of maturity during the bye week.”

LAST WEEK

Hootens.com correctly predicted three of four Class 7A games. For the season, hootens.com has correctly predicted 99 of 123 games (80 percent).

WEEK 12 PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS (favored team in ALL CAPS followed by point spread)

TOP HALF OF THE BRACKET
West Memphis at BENTONVILLE (28): Same scenario as 2011. After a first-round bye, Bentonville looks to blow out West Memphis. The final was 42-12 last November. Bentonville looks better on defense this fall while several coaches say West Memphis is not as good as last season. West Memphis rallied from 15 points down in the first half, and scored in the final minute to beat Rogers Heritage 43-36 last Friday. Bentonville led Heritage 35-0 two plays into the second quarter Week 7.

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER (1) at FS Southside: These teams meet for the eighth time in five years. Har-Ber beat Southside twice in 2009, including the state championship game. Southside beat Har-Ber twice in 2008 on its way to the finals. Both are much improved since Southside lost at Har-Ber 10-7 on Sept. 14. Har-Ber led LR Central 42-7 by halftime last week while Southside had a bye.

BOTTOM HALF OF THE BRACKET
Cabot at NORTH LR (12): Game of the Week.

Conway at FAYETTEVILLE (11): Conway completed a 52-yard pass with six seconds left to win at Fayetteville 45-42 in the first round of the 2009 playoffs. Fayetteville won at Conway 49-28 in the second round last year on its way to a state championship. Fayetteville had a bye last week while Conway scored on its first five possessions during a 42-6 rout of Rogers. Conway QB Cody Rhoades threw TD passes on the first play of three drives, including the Wampus Cats’ first two snaps.