This past Friday we saw what a playoff atmosphere looks like at Eagle Stadium, where roughly 8,000 fans witnessed Choctaw’s 42-7 win over Niceville to move the Big Green to 5-0 and end a 13-game skid in the Okaloosa County rivalry.
Choctawhatchee fans packed the visitors side and both student sections filled an entire section. Radio crews extended outside the press box to the concourse and a local TV station set up camp on the sideline. Meanwhile multiple area publications roamed end zone to end zone.
Eagle Stadium has always offered a Rose Bowl type setting with a construction unique to the area. But is it the best? As they say, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
Joe Etheredge Stadium used to be the home of both Choctaw and Fort Walton Beach and is easily the biggest area stadium, the home concrete side as steep and expansive as area stadiums come. Doug Griffith Stadium houses more state title banners than any area school and feels like a family reunion with the whole town piling in for barbeque and winning football. Simply put, It represents everything great about what you’d think about Florida Rural football.
Bennett C. Russell Stadium is know for its pre-game DJ, while Crestview’s student section always delivers alongside the stadium’s famous boiled peanuts. Freeport’s Bulldog Stadium will be replaced next year by a state-of-the-art build that they hope will rival South Walton’s The Hawks Nest, which is spacious and has easily the best light show synched up to music in the Panhandle . Meanwhile Yates Memorial Stadium has great facilities and is a pillar of Walton’s winning brand these past few years.
With so many amazing area stadiums, we want to know which atmosphere is the best. Voting runs through noon Saturday, so vote now and vote often. The winner will be revealed Monday.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Vote now for the best high school football atmosphere on the Emerald Coast
Reporting by Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News / Northwest Florida Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
