Conference of champions

Har-Ber, Bentonville look to restake their claims atop 7A

Bentonville’s and Fayetteville’s run of state championships over the last decade has been nothing if not dominant.

The schools have combined to win seven straight and nine of the last 10 Class 7A titles, with the Tigers repeating in 2013-14 and Fayetteville doing the same the last two seasons under as many head coaches. Springdale Har-Ber, which has played in three state title games, owns the only other state championship (2009) in that span.

This fall, the Wildcats have hopes of three-peating as conference champions for the first time in school history and derailing December’s two mainstays. After his team fell short to Bryant at home in last year’s state quarterfinals, Har-Ber coach Chris Wood, the league’s longest-tenured head coach, knows well the challenges that lie ahead.

“We play in a good league, and all of the ball in 7A is good,” Wood said. “All of the teams in the Central are really well coached, and they play well. We’ve just seen a run of some really good teams between, to be honest, Fayetteville and Bentonville, and what they’ve done with the landscape of football all of those years.

“You really have to coach at a high level and play at a high level to keep pace with those two,” he added. “And we feel we’ve been up there in the mix. We’ve got a state title and a couple runners-up in that course with them, so it makes you raise your game. It raises the bar of what we’re doing.”

This offseason Har-Ber worked to do just that, rearranging and diversifying an offense that threw for only 135.5 yards per game in 2016. Junior Grant Allen takes over at quarterback, allowing Payton Copher — an Air Force commit — to move to tailback alongside Logan Collins, who rushed for more than 600 yards and five scores last season.

The running game was strong, averaging nearly 250 yards per game, but Wood understands the passing game must improve if Har-Ber wants to play in Little Rock in December. Allen completed 27 of 39 passes for five touchdowns in 10 games last season. He’ll attempt to keep defenses off balance with a new-look group of receivers.

The Tigers and Purple’Dogs, though, will have their say in how the 7A-West shakes out, and in a league littered with stars, Bentonville’s Kam’ron Mays-Hunt may be the brightest. The All-NWADG Preseason Offensive Player of the Year totaled nearly 1,200 yards receiving as a junior and will be the leader of a program searching for its seventh league title in eight seasons.

Bentonville is also looking for a state finals breakthrough after a conference title in 2016 and a pair of semifinals appearances in coach Jody Grant’s first two seasons guiding the program.

“I have been a part of enough state championship runs since I’ve been here; we’ve won four and been there six times,” Grant said. “You’ve got to have a little luck throughout the season. Do I think this team has the ability to be in the mix? Absolutely. We’ve got to avoid the injury bug, which is true with any team, and we’ve got to play well as a team.

“I think it’s a little too early to tell, but it would not surprise me to see this team playing into December.”

Billy Dawson brought a shift in philosophy to Fayetteville in January, one month after guiding 6A Russell-ville to its first state championship. Expectations surrounding the team remain largely intact as quarterback Darius Bowers takes over the offense post-Taylor Powell. The Purple’Dogs have won at least 11 games each of the last three seasons and played in all but one state title game the last seven years.

Springdale High and Bentonville West both enter this season looking to make a move. The Red’Dogs doubled their win total in Zak Clark’s second season and boast the league’s leading returning passer in Layne Hutchins (2,223 yards) as well as a number of capable options in Alex Thompson and Kamond Robinson.

Arkansas commit and NWADG preseason Defensive Player of the Year Isaiah Nichols anchors a Red’Dogs defense

(33.5 ppg in 2016) likely to improve with experience returning (Mason Hutchins, 80 tackles in 2016). Nichols recorded 12.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in 2016, and he has become a player that can not only give opposing offenses problems, but dominate stretches of games.

“His progression has been nothing short of impressive,” Clark said. “We know teams are going to do things to him, and he’s going to face a lot of double teams and different kinds of blocks. They’re going to gameplan for him, and how he handles that pressure will go a long way. I know he’s going to have an outstanding year.”

Jadon Jackson led West to a state playoff berth in its inaugural season, and earned offers from of a handful of high-major Division I programs — Arkansas, Arizona State, Tulsa, Missouri — along the way. With Jackson, quarterback Will Jarrett and key move-ins, there is a greater sense of comfort entering this fall compared to last.

“This time last year we didn’t even have a place to call home,” West coach Bryan Pratt said. “The kids have a little more confidence in them, and they believe in themselves. I don’t think we’re going to sneak up on anybody. I think they’ll know that we’re pretty good, so we’ll see.”

Should the West meet resistance from the 7A-Central, Bryant and North Little Rock are the likely candidates. Bryant have won at least nine games in four of the last seven seasons and enter 2017 as league favorites after a semifinal run in coach Buck James’ first season.

The Hornets went 7-2 with junior quarterback Ren Hefley (1,770 yards, 12 TD) in charge last fall. The defense is in good hands as well with junior standout Kajuan Robinson (6-3, 300) starring up front. As a sophomore, Robinson started every game at tackle and tallied 40 stops, six for loss, to go along with a pair of interceptions.

North Little Rock graduated four all-state players, including running back Alex Day, quarterback Trey Cox and linebacker Tre Atkins (128 tackles in 2016), but returns what Jaime Mitchell believes to be a strong group of receivers, defensive linemen and linebackers.

Scottie Bordelon can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAScottie.

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