By John Millea

Now, finally, at last, as we get to Week 5 of the prep football season, we've got some fabulous matchups that mean something. We've been in sort of a shakedown cruise for the last month; at this point things are starting to sort themselves out.

Lots of great matchups this week, from the Class 5A big boys all the way down to the Nine-Man powerhouses. In fact, let's begin this week's lecture with a look at three Nine-Man matchups between unbeaten teams. --Cromwell at McGregor/ Both are 4-0 and this game will help decide seeding in Section 5. I'm picking Cromwell by a touchdown. --Cherry at Mountain Iron-Buhl/ Again, two 4-0 teams will mix it up. Both are in Section 7, so this is another biggie. I'm going with MIB. --Stephen-Argyle at Kittson County Central/ Headlines were made in the postseason last year when KCC ended the Storm's state-record 72-game winning streak with a 7-0 victory inside the Alerus Center in Grand Forks. This week's game will be held on KCC's home field in Hallock. As much respect and admiration as I have for the Storm, I am going with my head instead of my heart and predicting another win for Kittson County Central. In the world of 5A football, we have great big monstrous matchups in the Classic Lake and Northwest Suburban conferences. No. 3 Wayzata plays host to No. 4 Hopkins in the Classic Lake; I like Wayzata because of its defense. Hopkins has scored plenty of points but facing the Trojans will be a step up and I'm picking Wayzata by a couple of touchdowns. In the Northwest Suburban, I'm picking No. 5 Andover to beat No. 9 Champlin Park and No. 7 Blaine to defeat Anoka. In the "Other" category, I've got Maple Grove beating Osseo. In the battle of Minneapolis, I'm taking North to beat Washburn. In the battle of St. Paul, my pick is Harding over Highland Park. I went 15-5 last week. Theoretically, making these predictions should get easier as more games are played and track records begin to take shape. Theoretically, then, I should know what I'm doing. I don't trust theories. John Millea is on Twitter at twitter.com/stribjohn Last week's record: 15-5 Season record: 56-24 Metro Top 10 1. Eden Prairie 31, Eagan 7 2. Cretin-Derham Hall 33, Park 7 3. Wayzata 28, No. 4 Hopkins 14 4. Hopkins loses to No. 3 Wayzata 28-14 5. Andover 29, No. 9 Champlin Park 21 6. Totino-Grace 30, Chisago Lakes 17 7. Blaine 32, Anoka 21 8. Stillwater 24, Woodbury 14 9. Champlin Park loses to No. 5 Andover 29-21 10. Mahtomedi 34, Simley 13 *Other Games Minnetonka 24, Edina 21 St. Thomas Academy 32, Henry Sibley 16 Minneapolis North 31, Minneapolis Washburn 24 Fridley 24, Irondale 14 Maple Grove 28, Osseo 24 Holy Family Catholic 24, Jordan 18 St. Paul Harding 24, St. Paul Highland Park 23 Sartell 32, Willmar 23 Cloquet 21, Ashland, Wis., 20 (*Special Nine-Man Clash of the Unbeatens Division) Kittson County Central 33, Stephen-Argyle 30 Cromwell 28, McGregor 21 Mountain-Iron Buhl 38, Cherry 22