Hooten’s Arkansas Football Rankings
Class 7A, Week 13, 2023
Copyright Seventy Seven’s Football Publishing, LLC

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

KEVIN KELLEY'S COMMENTS

Went 4-0 with my picks last week, bringing the season total to 82-21 (79.7 percent). Made a change at the top of the poll after last Friday's results. Fayetteville beat Fort Smith Southside by 6 points, even though it wasn’t really that close until the end. That is not the kind of football you want to see played by the state's only undefeated 7A team. Southside does have a very good offense with Amari Tucker and Isaac Gregory, but Southside has been giving up points all season, and the Purple Dogs only scored 30. I said last week Southside had a long-shot chance, and it proved to be the closest. So, Bryant moves up to the top spot as we go into the final 4. No need for anyone to really care. The final rankings are all that really matter.

HOOTENS.COM GAME OF THE WEEK
7A Central-2, No. 3 CONWAY (10-1) at 7A West-1, No. 2 Fayetteville (11-0):
FAYETTEVILLE did not play as well against FS Southside as it did throughout the year in its 30-24 win, but it will get another chance to show why it is the state's lone undefeated 7A team. QB Drake Lindsey threw for 310 yards and 2 TDs, 1 to Jaison Delamar for 12 yards and the other to Charlie Graves for 8 yards.  Delamar ended up with 11 catches for 147 yards, including that TD. Fayetteville led 20-10 early in the fourth quarter when Landon Jones picked up a fumble by Southside and returned it to the Mavericks 8. The offense stalled and the Purple Dogs kicked a FG to go up 23-10 with the Mavericks still in striking distance. 
CONWAY beat tenacious Bentonville West 63-46. The Wampus Cats led 35-28 at halftime and it remained tight until the end when Conway earned some breathing room.
QB Donovyn Omolo started the scoring with a shovel pass to Cris O’Neal from inside the 10. The Wolverines countered with a 10-yard TD pass from Dalton Rice to Jaxon Brust. Then, they recovered an onside kick, leading to another touchdown. That drive ended with Rice passing to Cole Edmondson. Both teams moved the ball and put up points in the highest-scoring game of the night.

I do think experience matters at this stage of the playoffs, and Conway Coach Buck James has plenty as the former coach at Bryant, where he won 5 consecutive 7A State Championships. The Conway team doesn't have the same experience, and I expect some mistakes early before James gets them settled in. Fayetteville has a lot to clean up after last week's performance. But the Purple Dogs did a better job than most against Southside's explosive tandem of backs.
This game will come down to how well Fayetteville’s defensive line can contain Omolo, who can create time with his feet and wait for receivers to break open. The Wampus Cats are going to have to slow Fayetteville QB Drake Lindsey, who leads an offense averaging 47.2 points per game.
I look for a game in the 40s by both teams with Conway coming out on top in what will be a small upset. 

7A-West 3, No. 4 Bentonville (8-3) at 7A West-1, No. 1 BRYANT (10-1): This easily could have been the game of the week. Bentonville's record isn't as good as the others in the final 4, thanks in part to a difficult nonconference record. Bentonville advanced with 42-14 over Cabot. It was up 21-7 at half and 42-7 at the end of 3 quarters. QB Carter Nye, who missed a few games due to injury this year, was back and looked sharp, throwing TD passes early to Luke Coon and Ben Thompson. The Tigers were not in any real danger after that. 
BRYANT, 5-time defending 7A champs, beat a good Rogers team 56-32. Bryant totaled 554 yards, including 318 on the ground. The Hornets can beat you running the ball or passing it, which is one reason I moved them to No. 1. Bryant's defense contributed 2 interceptions, 1 by FS Branden Bennett, and a fumble recovery as well. RB James Martin had a 41-yard TD run that was the best run I have seen this year. Martin broke tackles from no less than 6 different players on the play. And he didn’t even lead the Hornets in rushing. That honor went to Myron Thrash Jr. (13-131 rushing, 3 TDs). TE Karter Ratcliff (3-97 receiving, 2 TDs) was the favorite target of QB Jordan Walker (236 passing, 4 TDs). 
BENTONVILLE is rock solid from top to bottom, and it has one of the state's best players in CJ Brown. But Bryant has a bunch of guys who can score from anywhere. And QB Walker can beat you with his feet too. I didn’t even mention Mytorian Singleton, who is one of the state's best wide receivers.
I believe this Hornets team is a bulldozer right now. I picked against them a couple of times this year and was only right once. I won’t make that mistake again. Bryant, in my humble opinion, wins this by double digits.