Today, we take a look at Class A District 5 in high school football.

BGM is the only area team in this district, and it will not be easy for the Bears to duplicate their outstanding 11-1 season a year ago.

The Bears lost in the third round of the playoffs to eventual state champion Gladbrook-Reinbeck, who they will have to face in District 5. G-B finished last year 12-2 with that state title, and will be among the favorites to be competing for the title in 2016.

BGM will have to scratch and claw to make the playoffs as a pair of teams in this district went 8-3. Colfax-Mingo and Hudson had deep runs before bowing out in the second round of the playoffs. C-M lost All-State QB Jared Myers from last season, but will still have a solid team. Hudson comes from Class 1A and will be looking to keep up their positive momentum in 2016.

Those four teams will be duking it out, but there are two more teams in this district that had winning records in 2015.

Belle Plaine and Grand View Christian School both went 5-4 last season. BP has shown the capability to beat top teams in their district, and should not be taken lightly. GVC is coming up from 8-Player football, which could prove to be a tough transition, but they do have some great athletes that have led the Thunder to success in recent years in several sports.

Rounding out the district is GMG (1-8) and North Tama (0-9). These two teams will have a hard time beating anyone except each other in this district in 2016.

It is going to be a ultra-competitive race in Class A District 5 and every single week will have a marquee matchup or two that could go a long way to determine who will claim a playoff berth.

Also, with the current wild card system, with as many good teams as this district will likely produce, there is a solid chance one of those wild cards could come from this district.

We’ll keep rolling with our district previews next Tuesday by looking at Class A District 6, which includes Cardinal, Lynnville-Sully, Montezuma, North Mahaska, and Pekin.