Is 'The Battle of Murder Creek' the state's biggest rivalry game?

In Wednesday of last week’s edition of The Mobile Press-Register, sportswriter Josh Bean published a great list of the state’s top prep football rivalries, and the list includes some games that you might have attended in the past.

At No. 1 was “The Battle of Murder Creek,” the annual football game between T.R. Miller of Brewton and W.S. Neal of East Brewton. Just two miles apart, the two schools have played every year since 1946.

The Hoover-Vestavia Hills game was ranked No. 2, and the Vigor-Blount game, aka “The Battle of Prichard,” was ranked No. 3. The annual Auburn High School- Opelika High School game came in fourth.

Washington County vs. Millry was fifth in the state with the Hoover-Prattville series coming in sixth. Geraldine and Crossville, aka “The Battle of Skirum Creek,” was ranked No. 7.

The annual Pickens County-Gordo game was ranked eighth. The annual Thomasville-Clarke County game, aka “The Backyard Brawl,” was No. 9, and the Daphne-Spanish Fort series came in tenth.

This list comes out around the same time that USA Today kicked off its effort to name the best high school football rivalry in the nation.

The T.R. Miller-W.S. Neal rivalry was selected as the top rivalry in Alabama during the first round of that contest and as of last Thursday they were in the running for the top rivalry in the South.

Four rivalries will eventually move on to the final round of voting with the nation’s top rivalry to be named on Dec. 19.

Other rivalries from the South included games from Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama and Virginia.

Aside from the T.R. Miller-W.S. Neal game, the other top rivalries in the South include the “Cross-River Rivalry” game between the Baylor School and the McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tenn.; the “Backyard Brawl” between Jenks and Union of Tulsa in Oklahoma; the annual Jesuit-Holy Cross game in New Orleans; and the “Winnersville Classic” between Valdosta and Lowndes, both located in Valdosta, Ga.

Other intense rivalries from the South in the running for the tops in the nation include the annual Manatee-Southeast game in Bradenton, Fla.; the annual Olive Branch-South Panola game in Mississippi; the annual Pisgah-Tuscola Senior game in North Carolina; the annual Rock Hill-Northwestern game in Rock Hill, S.C.; the annual “Battle of the Ax” between Sherman and Denison high schools in Texas; the annual Springdale-Fayetteville game in Arkansas; the annual St. Xavier-Trinity game in Louisville, Ky.; and “The Game” between Woodberry Forest-Episcopal in Virginia.

All of these great games and programs are notable for one reason or another. The Baylor-McCallie game is the oldest rivalry in Tennessee and draws crowds of up to 10,000. The Jenks-Union game draws up to 30,000, and the Pisgah-Tuscola Senior game also draws up to 10,000.

Valdosta is the winningest program in the nation with an all-time record of 874-208-34. The Sherman-Denison game is the oldest rivalry in Texas, and the Springdale-Fayetteville game is the longest-running rivalry in Arkansas.

The St. Xavier-Trinity game has been named the nation’s best rivalry by Sporting News. The Woodberry-Episcopal game has been nationally televised and draws crowds of up to 14,000.

In the end, if you’d like to cast your vote for “The Battle of Murder Creek” in the USA Today contest, visit http://contest.usatodayhss.com/ to submit your ballot today.