FOOTBALL: FIVE GAMES TO WATCH IN WEEK 5

1. Rio Rancho (4-0) at Manzano (4-0), Wilson Stadium, 1 p.m. Saturday: This requires no further hype here; see my column on this page for some background.

2. Artesia (3-1) at Cleveland (3-1), 7 p.m. Friday: The Bulldogs’ first-ever visit to Cleveland, and they are touting arguably the state’s best quarterback, Taylor Null. “Taylor is a great quarterback,” Storm QB Angelo Trujillo said. “It’s gonna be fun.”

3. Roswell (2-1) at Belen (4-0), 7 p.m. Friday: The Eagles had a terrific road win at Farmington the week before last, but then underwhelmed in their victory Thursday against Rio Grande. Belen had better be sharp; the Coyotes knocked off previously unbeaten Los Lunas on Friday.

4. Centennial (1-3) at Hobbs (3-1), 7 p.m. Friday: As District 3-6A gets underway next week — other matchups include Gadsden at Oñate, and Mayfield at Carlsbad in a battle of the coaching Bradley brothers, Mike and Gary — this is the top game of the three. Hobbs is playing better football than anybody else in this district right now, including Las Cruces.

5. Atrisco Heritage (2-1) at Volcano Vista (3-1), Nusenda Community Stadium, 7 p.m. Thursday: The Jaguars, led by bruising running back Angel Ramirez (who has three straight games over 200 yards) have a chance to gain some more momentum ahead of their Week 6 battle with Cleveland. The Hawks are coming off solid, well-rounded road win at Mayfield in which Moses Young scored all four VV touchdowns.