Hooten’s Arkansas Football Rankings 

Class 7A, Week 12, 2023 

Copyright Seventy-Seven’s Football Publishing, LLC 

 
1. Fayetteville (10-1) 

2. Bryant (9-1) 

3. Conway (9-1) 

4. Bentonville (7-3) 

5. Rogers (8-3) 

6. Fort Smith Southside (7-4) 

7. Bentonville West (8-3) 

8. Cabot (7-4) 

9. Jonesboro (5-6) 

10.  North Little Rock (3-8) 

11.  Springdale Har-ber (2-9) 

12.  Fort Smith Northside (2-9) 

13.  Little Rock Southwest (2-8) 

14.  Springdale (2-8) 

15.  Rogers Heritage (1-9) 

16.  Little Rock Central (10-0) 

 
KEVIN KELLEY’S COMMENTS 

Went 3-1 last week bringing the season total to 78-21 (78.7 percent). The top 8 in the 7A rankings from last week are the last 8 left in the playoffs. Nos. 1-4 are all coming off byes. There is a shakeup in Nos. 5-8, with Rogers and Southside moving up a spot, and Bentonville West dropping from No. 5 to No. 7. Rogers, a 44-6 winner over North Little Rock, has been playing consistently and is able to put together some good drives. Southside moved up because it can score, beating a talented Jonesboro team 53-27. Bentonville West drops after narrowly defeating Northside 38-35. Cabot remains at 8 after beating Har-ber 42-6. Cabot looked solid on defense against a Har-ber team that scored points all season. It is highly likely that there will be no upsets this week, with the Hootens.com 1-4 rankings proving to be right on the mark, with that group making up the final 4 teams next week. 

HOOTENS.COM GAME OF THE WEEK 

West-5 Fort Smith Southside (7-4) at West-1 FAYETTEVILLE (10-0): 
This is a rematch of Fayetteville’s 45-31 win over Southside on Oct. 6. That game was tied 0-0 after 1 quarter, and this game might offer the best chance of producing an upset in 7A this week. It’s a long shot for Southside to win because Fayetteville has shown it finds a way to win every single week. The Purple Dogs are the only undefeated 7A team. 

Fayetteville quarterback Drake Lindsey, one of the top QBs in 7A, if not the best, threw 5 TD passes in the previous meeting. Southside brings in the best RB duo in the league with Isaac Gregory and Amari Tucker — along with QB Carter Zimmerman — ran for 3 TDs and more than 230 yards and were responsible for more than 500 yards, passing, rushing, and receiving.  

 
My thought here is the way to beat Fayetteville is to outscore it. (I know that makes those of you who saw my teams play laugh). But Lindsey, the Fayetteville QB, does such an excellent job of getting the ball to Jaison Dalamar, Mason Spencer, and Charlie Graves, it will be difficult to keep them from scoring. So, Southside must focus on getting TDs not FGs, when answering after a score, so Fayetteville does not get all the momentum.  

Fayetteville’s defense is anchored by Kaden Spencer, and most coaches in the 7A West would say you have to block Spencer to allow your offense a chance.   

The Mavericks are tough when they have the ball. Gregory and Tucker can score from anywhere on the field. QB Zimmerman, a dual-threat, had a 62-yard run the first time the teams met. 

I expect an even higher-scoring game this time. The Purple Dogs will prevail, with Southside showing flashes of great play.  

 
West-4 Rogers (8-3) at Central-1 BRYANT (9-1): The Bryant Hornets are now my favorites to win the state championship. I know I have them ranked No. 2, but Fayetteville’s ranking doesn’t matter right now anyway.  

Bryant was off last week, but Rogers defeated North Little Rock 44-6 in what looked to be a nice tune-up for this week. Dane Williams led the offense, and the only TD given up by the Rogers defense came on a busted coverage. 

Bryant‘s bye came at a good time, especially after an emotional win over Conway, which is now coached by Buck James, the man who took Bryant to 5 consecutive 7A state titles. Conway jumped out early, but Bryant showed its championship pedigree and really took over the game physically. The Hornets showed us at Hootens.com something we have been waiting to see. The Hornets are solid on both sides of the line. They can beat you running or throwing. And they can shut you down on defense. QB Jordan Walker and WR Mytorian Singleton lead their passing game and RBs James Martin and Myron Thrash, Jr. have shown they can run the ball.  Bryant, I believe, is the most complete team. It has gotten better and better, which was to be expected when they changed coaches. But they got another good one in Quad Sanders.  

Rogers has shown it can play with anyone at times and has lost a couple of games they easily could have won. They have a rock-solid group of receivers, including Graycen Cash, Jacob Jenkins, and Dane Williams.  

This game should be close for a while, with Rogers showing lots of senior leadership early, but the Hornets will break this one open around halftime or after. 

 
West-3 Bentonville West (8-3) at Central-2 CONWAY (9-1): Bentonville West held off sixth-seeded Northside 38-35. Both offenses sputtered a bit until Wolverines’ QB Dalton Rice hit Mason Hawkins on a short TD pass.  

The bad news for Bentonville West is it punched a ticket to play a Buck James-coached Conway team that lost its last game. That usually is not a good spot to be in as the visiting team. Conway lost to Bryant 52-33 in a game that was tighter than the final score shows. It was a 1 score game until the final 6 minutes when it got away from Wampus Cats. 

Conway started 9-0, winning by an average of 37.5 ppg, and I thought that the Wampus Cats had a chance to enter the postseason with a perfect record. But Bryant showed us something. I do expect Conway QB Donovyn Omolo and friends to get off to a fast start and put their mark on the playoffs early in this one. 
 
Central-3 Cabot (7-4) at West-2 BENTONVILLE (7-3): Bentonville got to rest last week, but it didn’t take long last Friday for the Tigers to see that they would be playing the Panthers of Cabot. Har-ber, which had been improving weekly and scoring points, was driving when QB Braden Sprague, who has been good this year, was intercepted by Panthers linebacker Gavin Vest. Cabot then did what it does well — play well at home and win. 

Cabot, which has struggled at times in road games, will be the visiting team this week. Both teams play physical ball, but Bentonville has a big advantage in the passing game with CJ Brown, 1 of the best, if not the best, receivers in the state. That passing game will be the difference, and the hope is that QB Carter Nye is back to deliver Brown the football.  

This game looks to be a defensive battle early with Bentonville hitting some deep strikes in the passing game that breaks this open.