Saturday, June 25, 2011

Arkansas 7-on-7 Football's 2011 Mid-Season Top 10

ArkansasVarsity has produced their mid-season Top 20. We decided to give you our Top 10 along with our rational for placing the teams where we did. You can visit Luke over at ArkansasVarsity.com to compare.


1. Pulaski Academy
  • PA finished 10-0 at the Shootout of the South, disposing of Allen, TX and Belton, TX (twice) as well as top Arkansas teams Fayetteville, Rogers Heritage, El Dorado and Nashville. They also defeated Greenbrier and Lake Hamilton (twice) at the Sonic Air Raid and defeated Bryant at the ASPC Summer Showdown. Bryant is their lone loss from pool play at the Summer Showdown.

2. Fayetteville
  • Austin Allen showed why there is hype around his big right arm at the Shootout of the South. He led the Bulldogs to victories over top teams Greenbrier, El Dorado, CAC, and Rogers Heritage.

3. Lake Hamilton
  • Lake Hamilton's defeats this year have come to Greenbrier in their first game at the Air Raid, who they would later beat in the tournament, Pulaski Academy (twice) at the Air Raid, and Allen, Texas, who beat them on a 20-yard touchdown pass as time expired. They won the OBU 7-on-7 tournament and have defeated Greenbrier, Conway, Warren, CAC, and Heritage Hall out of Oklahoma City.

4. Central Arkansas Christian
  • Probably the biggest pleasant surprise as they went 10-1 and won the Auburn Passing tournament. They continued to impress at the Shootout with victories over Bryant, Nashville, and twice over Watson Chapel. Their only losses were a last minute 2-point loss to Allen, a 1-point loss to Fayetteville, and an elimination loss to Lake Hamilton.

5. Rogers Heritage
  • A new offensive coordinator does not seem like it will slow down the War Eagles passing game. Their well-designed offense behind their sophomore QB Josh Qualls was a tough out at the Shootout. They defeated Russellville, Belton, TX, and Bryant, while their losses were to Pulaski Academy, Lake Hamilton, and Fayetteville.

6. Bryant
  • Although they were a bit of a disappointment at the Shootout, much of that could be attributed to the injury to playmaker Dillon Winfrey, their go to receiver and starting cornerback. Without him they struggled to find a rhythm on offense. However, Bryant is the only team to take down Pulaski Academy this summer as they scored on almost every possession in 6 games at the Summer Showdown.

7. Greenbrier
  • Greenbrier has taken down some good teams this year as they defeated Lake Hamilton at the Air Raid, and beat El Dorado and Bryant and demolished Conway, 53-28, at the Shootout. Their losses have come at the hands of Pulaski Academy, Lake Hamilton, Fayetteville, Belton, TX, and Heritage Hall (OK City).

8. El Dorado
  • We predict El Dorado will be much better at the Southwest Elite 7-on-7 at Shiloh in July. Their young quarterback and receivers never quite hit their stride at their Shootout, but their defense was able to make up with their closing speed on balls put up in the air. They were as impressive as any defense we've seen this summer.

9. Warren
  • The youth of this team has to have Coach Hembree excited about the next three years. Wide receiver Jalen Cobb is a great target to build an offense around, and they will likely improve exponentially each time they play.

10. Conway
  • There are too many playmakers for this team not to be dangerous. They had some disappointing losses at the Shootout, but Coach Ashcraft and staff will fix the problems and they will not be easy to beat by mid July.
There you have our rankings.  Let us know what you think.


NOTE:  One team intentionally left off is Springdale Har-Ber.  However, we are unsure of any 7-on-7 competitions that they have competed in this summer. There is no doubt they belong here, but we're not sure where they fit in, They will make their first mark at the Southwest Elite on July 8-9. We're sure they will be one of the top 5 teams in that 24 team field, but that is pure speculation on our part.

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