SOUTH PARIS – “The Struggle for Sabattus Pond”? “The Battle of Sawyer Road”?

It’s tough to find a catchy nickname for the rapidly developing Oak Hill-Leavitt rivalry.

The rivalry may have started two years ago with annual regular-season meetings, but the Raiders and Hornets share more than just the town line between Sabattus and Greene. The only thing it lacks is a memorable moniker.

“Certainly within our conference,” said Leavitt head coach, and former Oak Hill assistant, Mike Hathaway, “this is as big a rival as we have.”

Which is why the Raiders will be in Turner for Saturday night’s homecoming game. The game should be a contrast in styles between the wide open and versatile Hornets and the grind it out Raiders. But that’s about the only place the Pine Tree Conference adversaries diverge.

Oak Hill’s staff is loaded with connections. Of Bruce Nicholas’ coaching staff, Phil Prideaux once coached at Tripp Middle School, John Springer played at Leavitt and freshman coach Dave Wing was principal there. The players regularly mingle in scholastic, athletic and social circles.

But adding a little extra zest to this year’s game is the fact that both teams could really use the win. A victory is probably more critical to the 1-2 Raiders than the 2-1 Hornets in the short term as the crowded pack in the middle of the Pine Tree Conference begins to sort itself out.

“The winner is going to be sitting fairly decent and the loser is going to have some work cut out for them,” Nicholas said.

“I think each team knows that they need to have it to set themselves up for a playoff run,” Hathaway said.

Other teams are lining themselves up for a playoff run this autumn.

• Unbeaten Livermore Falls battles 2-1 Boothbay in a big Campbell Conference showdown. Fans can probably count on getting home early tonight because both teams prefer chewing the clock with multi-pronged running attacks.

The Andies defense, which has given up just seven points with its starters on the field, will be tested by the Seahawks’ vaunted double-wing offense, led by running backs D.J. Holcombe, Casey Latter and Costas Rigas. Livermore’s Wing-T is equally formidable, with Karlton Jones, Mark O’Shea and Ryan Webster lending support to one of the conference’s top running backs, Brad Bryant.

• A critical PTC North match-up pits Messalonskee (3-0) against Mt. Blue (2-1). The Cougars are coming off a tough 3-0 loss to another undefeated division foe, Bangor, and would like to knock Messalonskee from the unbeaten ranks.

Tailback Chris Duffy is the catalyst for a Messalonskee offense that is averaging nearly 35 points per game. The Cougar defense, led by Jordan Stevens, Rob Blake and Chad Merrill, proved stout against Bangor’s running game last week. Mt. Blue wouldn’t mind if its own ground game, led by Stevens, Hazen Pingree and David DiGravio, helped keep Duffy and company off the field.