Sports reporter Brandon Folsom asks the important questions entering Week 5 of the Michigan high school football season.

With how explosive Madison Heights Bishop Foley is on offense, you can't afford to have too many three-and-outs, or else you'll never keep up with the Ventures on the scoreboard.

And that's ultimately what happened to Cranbrook during Saturday's 33-6 loss in Catholic League-Intersectional 1 play.

The Cranes (1-3, 0-1) knocked on the end zone's door a few times, including having three solid chances early in the first half. But the best they could muster was a 17-yard TD pass from QB Preston Washer to Alex Yolles.

Bishop Foley (4-0, 1-0) added three more TDs after that to ice the win, including Gus Toppi punching in two more of his four rushing TDs on the day.

The Ventures won last year's Prep Bowl, but Cranbrook was the lone team to beat them in the regular season (they upset Bishop Foley, 43-41). But they just couldn't return serve offensively this time around, despite Washer finishing 11 of 29 passing for 110 yards.

And, mentally, not finding offensive success hurt the Cranes.

"Against a good offensive team, you need to score some points," Cranbrook coach Nick LaFontaine said. "It changes the perception. It changes the game for our kids, and then you feel like you're in it. I thought we battled in the first half. But if you're even with them or up a score, it's a different game. You have a little more confidence. Our kids are battling just to see if they can even compete."

That'll be the goal for the Cranes the rest of the way. With three of their next four games against CHSL opponents, they need to score points to keep their confidence up. Hope goes a long way on the gridiron, and Cranbrook is figuring that out day in and day out.

Not even the coaches in the Oakland Activities Association knew who would win the Blue.

During OAA Media Day in August, every coach was asked to fill out a pre-season ballot to determine the winner of each division. No teams in the Blue got more than one first-place vote. In fact, North Farmington (1-3, 1-1) was tabulated as the preseason favorite to win the division because it got the most second- and third-place votes.

That's why it's great to see Farmington (3-1, 2-0) and Birmingham Seaholm (4-0, 1-0) on a collision course to play for the Blue championship. Both squads should be undefeated when they meet for their league finale in Week 8. Neither was projected to be this good, yet they're both kicking butt.

Their matchup on Oct. 14 should be must-see.

With Rochester Adams and Warren De La Salle losing in back-to-back weeks, that makes 4-0 Belleville, last year's Division 1 state champion, the unanimous No.-1 ranked team in Michigan, according to every metro Detroit-based media outlet that assembles polls.

Led by Bryce Underwood, the top-ranked sophomore QB in the country by 247Sports, the Tigers will likely be 8-0 when they meet Livonia Franklin in Week 8.

And there's a good chance the Patriots will be undefeated going into that game, too. Franklin has matchups against Westland John Glenn, Livonia Stevenson and Dearborn Fordson, which are all winnable games as long as the Patriots handle their business, before they visit Belleville on Oct. 14.

With the way the Tigers have been blowing out opponents (they haven't scored fewer than 41 points in a single game and average a state-best 55.0 points per game), it's unlikely they get upset by Franklin. But never say never. A year ago, Livonia Churchill beat Belleville, 28-21, which was the lone loss the Tigers suffered en route to their state title. So let's not rule out the Patriots just yet. They were a final-four team in D-2 a year ago after all.

And, by the way, a win over Belleville would likely put Franklin in the KLAA championship.

According to the Michigan high school football website Goosepoop (yes, that's really their name. Don't ask us why they call themselves that), Redford Union has one of the top defenses, regardless of division.

The Panthers (4-0, 3-0 WWAC) have given up just 20 points through four games. Their average of 5.0 points allowed per game is the 10th-best in the state. Macomb Dakota is just ahead of them at ninth, allowing only 4.3 points per game.

Only two teams, Gladwin (4-0) and River Rouge (3-0), have held each other their opponents scoreless.

So the Panthers are among some pretty good company. And the craziest thing about this stat? They have pitched just one shutout this season, as they outscored Romulus 55-0 in Week 4.

It helps that they have plenty of studs on their defense as well. Chief among them is linebacker Jeremiah Alston, a three-star athlete committed to Central Michigan University.

Union is leaps and bounds better than the rest of the Western Wayne Athletic Conference. So there's a chance it won't give up too many more points in its final five games.

Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on Twitter @folsombrandonj.