7A-West Teams Do It Again

"According to the map, we've only gone about four inches."

-- Lloyd (Jim Carey) to Harry (Jeff Daniels) in Dumb and Dumber

Boy, am I stupid. Compared to me, Lloyd and Harry are a pair of geniuses.

I was actually dumb enough to think a team from outside the 7A-West Conference could win the state championship this season. I began to form that opinion after teams from the 7A-West got whacked in some key nonconference games early in the year. I was also told by folks in central Arkansas that North Little Rock was so stacked with athletes this year, the Charging Wildcats couldn't possibly fail again in the state semifinals.

North Little Rock did for the fifth straight year, and it wasn't even close.

Bentonville, which started the year with four consecutive losses, will again advance to the state championship game against Fayetteville, which annihilated Fort Smith Southside last week on its home field. The Tigers and Bulldogs will meet at noon Saturday, marking the fourth time since 2010 they'll play for the state championship in Arkansas' largest classification.

Congratulations to both teams. Now, onto this year's final pick.

Don't fall into the trap of believing this will be easy for Bentonville because the Tigers beat Fayetteville 45-2 four weeks ago.

Remember 2011? That's when Fayetteville beat Bentonville 29-28 in the state championship game after losing 41-6 to the Tigers in the regular season. Fayetteville won it again in 2012 after losing by a touchdown to the Tigers in conference play.

Bentonville has returned to championship form but the Bulldogs have an emerging star in sophomore quarterback Taylor Powell, who completed 20 of 22 passes in the first half of last week's 56-14 win over Southside.

Last year, quarterback Kasey Ford earned a scholarship off from Louisville after he Bentonville to a state championship as a sophomore. He earned MVP honors in the state championship game after throwing for 265 yards and three touchdowns in a 39-28 victory over Cabot.

Fayetteville beat Cabot 35-21 behind Dre Greenlaw, who caught a touchdown pass and ran for two scores. Greenlaw has emerged as an offensive threat in the playoffs in addition to his usual standout play on defense. He'll face another two-way standout in Cody Scroggins, who'll join "Big-Play Dre" at Arkansas, but play baseball instead of football.

So, who to pick? The Bulldogs are rolling behind Greenlaw and a hot quarterback, but there's really not a lot of difference between Fayetteville and Bentonville.

About four inches, according to the map.

RICK'S PICK: Fayetteville

Last Week: 1-2 (33 percent)

Overall: 120-43 (74 percent)

Sports on 12/06/2014

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