The 9-1 Bryant Hornets will engage in a rematch with the Fayetteville Bulldogs on Friday, Nov. 17, in the second round of the Class 7A football playoffs.
Fayetteville advanced by outlasting Fort Smith Southside 64-34 in the first round.
The Hornets and the Purple Dogs played one of the games of the year in week 2 of the regular season. In overtime, Bryant won 38-37 at Fayetteville’s Harmon Field. It was the first time a Bryant team had ever defeated a Fayetteville squad.
Fayetteville, now 7-4, was the No. 3 seed from the 7A-West Conference and wound up being the only West team to advance out of the first round. The big upset was pulled off by a 3-7 Fort Smith Northside team, seeded fifth in the Central, with a 21-9 win over West 4 seed Springdale Har-Ber (7-3), the preseason favorite to win the State title.
Here are the brackets headed into next week:
CLASS 7A STATE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS
Friday, Nov. 10
Game 2 — Cabot (5-5) (Central 4) 43, Springdale (6-4) (West 5) 21
Game 4 — Fayetteville (6-4) (West 3) 64, FS Southside (3-7) (Central 6) 34
Game 6 — FS Northside (3-7) (Central 5) 21, Springdale Har-Ber (7-3) (West 4) 9
Game 8 — Conway (7-3) (Central 3) 41, Rogers (5-5) (West 6) 14
Thursday, Nov. 16
Game 12 — Conway (8-3) at Bentonville West (9-1) (West 1)
Friday, Nov. 17
Game 9 — Cabot (6-5) at Bentonville (8-2) (West 1)
Game 10 — Fayetteville (7-4) at Bryant (9-1) (Central 2)
Game 11 — FS Northside (4-7) at North Little Rock (10-0) (Central 1)
Friday, Nov. 24
Game 13 — Game 9 winner vs. game 10 winner (higher seed is home)
Game 14 — Game 11 winner vs. game 12 winner (higher seed is home)
Saturday, Dec. 2
At War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock
Game 15 — game 13 winner vs. game 14 winner, 12 p.m.
