CRESTVIEW — While Crestview High School’s Bulldogs and Baker School’s Gators aren’t in the same town, they are each other’s closest neighbors, with just 11 miles and the Yellow River separating them.
In fact, both stadiums are practically on the exact same latitude.
However, they don’t play in a rival game watched by Okaloosa County’s entire north end; neither school pranks on each other’s home field or has pep rallies with creative disparaging remarks about the other’s mascot.
Baker and Crestview are on opposite ends of the FHSAA spectrum.
Crestview, with a school population nearly quadruple that of Baker’s, has a much deeper program — so deep that the Bulldogs can field a freshman team.
Baker is a K through 12 school, with middle school players conditioned for the Gator Junior Varsity when they reach ninth grade.
Baker and Crestview are two different fish that play in two different ponds. Therein lies the rub. The Bulldogs are trying to improve on a 5-5 record from the 2015 season, something Coach Tim Hatten isn’t used to.
“It’s mediocrity, and that’s what we’re trying to battle,” he said. “We want to make sure that we’re better than that.”
With a group of seniors who started under Hatten their freshman year, the Bulldogs’ coach is optimistic about improvement. “We’re excited about the opportunities that we have,” he said.
West of the Yellow River, the Gators have been chomping away at their district competition, winning three consecutive district titles and going all the way to the Class 1A state semi-finals last season.
“Our goals haven’t lessened,” says Baker coach Matt Brunson, who wants to take his team to Orlando for a state title.
Baker faces Jay and Northview in its district, whose challenges include a two-hour bus ride in either direction. Baker also takes on bigger teams, holding its own last year in a loss against a tough Walton Braves team that eventually went undefeated in its regular season.
In Crestview’s district, the bus rides are much shorter, but the fish are much bigger — as big as they get — on the other side of Eglin Reservation. That’s the reality of being in Class 6A.
The Bulldogs want to land the big three to the south — Choctaw, Fort Walton Beach and Niceville — while the Gators are biting down on what they have, their district title, and are hungry for more: namely, taking state.
This season will have two compelling stories to watch unfold.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview & Baker: different classes, different destinies