For the third consecutive season, Bryant ends the 2020 high school football season as the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's No. 1 overall team.
Led by Coach Buck James, the Hornets (13-0) won their third Class 7A state title in a row Dec. 5 with a 27-17 victory over North Little Rock. They completed a second undefeated season and are on a 29-game winning streak. The last loss for Bryant was Oct. 26, 2018, at North Little Rock.
Bryant has been the Democrat-Gazette's No. 1 team since the start of the 2019 season.
North Little Rock (11-2) ends the 2020 season as the state's No. 2 team overall and in Class 7A. The Charging Wildcats reached the Class 7A state championship game for the fifth consecutive season, but it was the first appearance under J.R. Eldridge, who took over for Jamie Mitchell during the offseason.
Both of the Charging Wildcats' losses came to Bryant.
Greenwood (14-0) is the No. 3 team in the final Democrat-Gazette overall top 10 rankings. The Bulldogs won the Class 6A state championship with a 49-24 victory over 6A-West Conference rival Lake Hamilton on Dec. 5.
Pulaski Academy (13-0), the Class 5A state champion for a second consecutive season, ends the season at No. 4 overall. The Bruins handled Little Rock Christian 64-27 on Dec. 12 to cap their first undefeated season since 2017.
Rounding out the overall top 10 are Conway, Cabot, Bentonville, Lake Hamilton, Sylvan Hills and Shiloh Christian, the latter winning the Class 4A state championship Saturday against Rivercrest.
The top teams in the final Super Six rankings are Bryant (Class 7A), Greenwood (Class 6A), Pulaski Academy (Class 5A), Shiloh Christian (Class 4A), Harding Academy (Class 3A) and Fordyce (Class 2A).
Here are five key teams that earned spots in the final Super Six rankings:
• Cabot, the No. 4 team in Class 7A to end the 2020 season, pulled off one of the state's biggest upsets in the playoffs with a victory at Bentonville, which won the 7A-West Conference title. The Panthers took North Little Rock to the wire in the semifinals Nov. 27 before losing 49-42. Scott Reed will enter his third season at Cabot with a confident team that knows it can win big games in November.
• Sylvan Hills won its first conference championship since 2004, earning the 6A-East title under first-year Coach Chris Hill and finished No. 3 in the Class 6A Super Six. Hill replaced Jim Withrow in the offseason after spending three seasons at Harding University as an assistant coach. He guided the Bears to a 9-4 record and an appearance in the Class 6A semifinals.
• Wynne went 11-1, winning the 5A-East Conference championship. The Yellowjackets ended the season as the No. 3 team in Class 5A. They were undefeated entering the Class 5A semifinals before losing 52-14 at Pulaski Academy. Senior offensive tackle Terry Wells has signed with the University of Arkansas.
• Stuttgart was 1-9 in 2019, with its only victory coming via forfeit against Mills. However, the Ricebirds went on to win 12 games in 2020 and the 4A-2 Conference championship under Coach Josh Price. They earned playoff victories against Joe T. Robinson and Ozark, then lost to eventual state champion Shiloh Christian in the semifinals. Stuttgart is the No. 3 team in Class 4A to end the 2020 season.
• Bigelow was 0-10 in 2019 but rebounded to win the 2A-4 Conference title in 2020. The Panthers (12-1) advanced to the Class 2A quarterfinals before losing to 2A-6 Conference champion Des Arc 38-22. Luke Starks' team is the No. 5 team in Class 2A to wrap up the season.
