Nat-stradamus — aka Indianapolis Star reporter Nat Newell — was a sterling 21-5 in predicting the outcomes of high school football games in a much tougher second week of the postseason to improve to 353-81 on the season. Here’s a look at some of the top games in the Indianapolis area. For the rest of the games, go to: Blogs.Indy Star.com/preps. All games are at 7 p.m. Friday.

Carmel 10, Hamilton Southeastern 7

These are the two best defensive teams in Class 5A, which shouldn’t be a surprise since Hamilton Southeastern coach Scott May played for Carmel’s Mo Moriarity at Lakeland, then coached for him at Bloomington South, and both run similar defenses. Host Carmel’s offense, however, has moved the ball better than the Royals against the best defenses it has played. If Hamilton Southeastern gets a big game from tailback Matt Ripp or a defensive score, it will win this game.

Warren Central 44, Lawrence Central 24

Lawrence Central matches up well with Warren Central, as its misdirection offense should slow the Warriors’ aggressive defense. Lawrence Central has been up-and-down all season but has played its best ball the past three weeks, stopping some very good running backs along the way. If the defense can do that to Warren Central’s Shakir Bell, it’ll win this game, but I don’t see it.

Brownsburg 21, Avon 14

Frankly, I haven’t been a believer in Brownsburg as a sectional championship-caliber team this season, but what it did to Zionsville last week was more impressive than even host Avon’s back-to-back upsets. Expect a brutal, old-fashioned game between two teams that need to run the ball to be successful.

Center Grove 28, Bloomington North 13

Host Bloomington North has surrendered an average of 45.3 points over the past three games, so eliminate Center Grove’s biggest question mark: its ability to consistently move the ball. Bloomington North has averaged 33.5 points per game, so it won’t be shut out by the Trojans defense, but it also hasn’t seen a unit this good.

Batesville 13, Hamilton Heights 7

Visiting Batesville seems to play everyone close. Hamilton Heights was having a similar problem before handling Beech Grove last week. I still see this being a close game and give Batesville the edge.

Cathedral 28, Plainfield 7

Five weeks into the year, this looked like a disappointing season for Plainfield. To their credit, the Quakers continued to improve and reached the sectional championship game. No matter how much more it improves, however, host Plainfield isn’t ready for Cathedral. It has struggled to move the ball against the best defenses on its schedule and, though the defense is good, it won’t contain Irish QB Kofi Hughes.

Bishop Chatard 36, Brebeuf Jesuit 21

Brebeuf has come a long way in three years under coach Ryan Gallogly. Now we’ll find out how much further it has to go. The Braves would win a lot of sectionals in this state, but they are going to have to be the best to get past Bishop Chatard. If host Brebeuf can generate a passing game and slow Bishop Chatard’s offense, it has a chance, but I don’t see it happening.

Cardinal Ritter 31, Speedway 14

After an emotional victory over Heritage Christian last week, Ritter should benefit from having another big rival waiting in the sectional championship to avoid any kind of letdown. Don’t be fooled by last week’s victory over a 9-1 Centerville team that played a weak schedule; Speedway has struggled down the stretch.

Monrovia 14, North Putnam 7

Monrovia’s flashy statistics have been built on the number of weak teams on its schedule, but it has also beaten the better ones. Host North Putnam was Monrovia’s first true challenge this season and there’s no reason to think this rematch will be any different.

Scecina 23, Lutheran 19

A matchup of teams that have had successful seasons under the radar. Lutheran was overlooked because it played too many cupcakes early, then lost to teams that were better than anyone realized (Beech Grove, Park Tudor). Scecina plays a brutal schedule and lost to the same teams Lutheran did. The Crusaders, however, put on the better performance last week, so give them the edge.