The War on Highway 4 will stick around a few more years.
Crestview High School will get a shot at unseating Niceville on the football field yet again.
Fans will fill Laurel Hill’s tiny gymnasium to see the storied Laurel Hill-Paxton basketball rivalry add another chapter.
Rivalries offer a sports season's climactic moments, and after district realignment, quite a few will stick around for the 2014-2015 school year.
Need a refresher on the best sports rivalries involving North Okaloosa County high schools?
Here are my top four.
1. Laurel Hill vs. Paxton, boys basketball
This one dates back more than a half-century.
The “Hoosiers”-type atmosphere inside Laurel Hill’s three-row-bleachers gymnasium creates a standing-room-only scene along the Okaloosa County-Walton County border.
And it’s back for another year, with Paxton reigning supreme the past few years in District 1-1A.
2. Baker vs. Jay, football
It’s called “The War on Highway 4" — one of the coolest tags for any sports rivalry.
Baker has won all of the last five meetings, although not without a few scares in the District 1-1A tilt.
The annual matchup survived district realignment, even if the Baker-Freeport rivalry was paused.
3. Crestview vs. Niceville, basketball
In 2013 and 2014, the Bulldogs beat the Eagles in overtime to claim the District 1-7A championships.
Any time the teams meet on the basketball court, it brings a bit of a personal edge with multiple Niceville players growing up in Crestview.
4. Baker vs. South Walton, football
This one is a bit new. The Seahawks ended the Gators’ streak of 20 straight regular-season wins last fall.
That barnburner of a result — the third straight in the series — set the table for a new gridiron rivalry along the Panhandle.
Now, Baker has a bit of revenge to gain in 2015.
The two teams aren’t district opponents, but they could become playoff ones in Class 1A this fall.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: North Okaloosa's top 4 rivalries