Top 10 high school mascots in North Carolina: Vote for the best

From Devilpups to Furies to Whirlies, meet the best high school mascots in North Carolina
Bishop McGuinness Villains logo.
Bishop McGuinness Villains logo. / SBLive archives

It's been a whirlwind of a past few months for Grimsley High School, which is coming off a state championship season in football.

Serious high school mascot fans could tell you those Whirlies from Greensboro used to be Purple Whirlwinds.

Over the next couple of months, SBLive/SI will be featuring the best high school mascots in every state, giving readers a chance to vote for No. 1 in all 50.

The winners and highest vote-getters will make up the field for our NCAA Tournament-style March Mascot Madness bracket in 2025. The Coalinga Horned Toads (California) are the defending national champions.

Here are High School on SI's top 10 high school mascots in North Carolina (vote in the poll below to pick your favorite):

The poll will close at 11:59 p.m. ET Tuesday, Jan. 21.

1. Buckin' Elks (Elkin HS)

Elkin High School is in the city of Elkin and located on Elk Spur Street, and the school’s mascot isn’t just an Elk — it’s a Buckin’ Elk. The Battle of the Bridge pits Elkin’s Buckin’ Elk mascot against the Starmount Ram.

2. Dark Horses (Clinton HS)

Nicknamed Clinton U because of its Indianapolis Colts-like horseshoe logo, the Dark Horses have been anything but dark horses on the football field. The program’s five state championships help make its mascot one of the most ironic in the nation.

3. Devilpups (Lejeune HS)

Lejeune students in 1944 took the moniker Devilpups, a reference to the Marine Corps nickname of Devil Dog and Camp Lejeune being a Marine Corps base.

4. Furies (Forsyth Country Day School)

These are the only Furies in the country, and the school’s physical mascot is the Fury, a horse. Maybe a nod to the 1950s TV seriesFuryabout a black stallion named Fury?

5. Imps (Cary HS)

These Imps have an interesting back story. Albert H. Werner, a football and baseball coach at the school in the 1930s, came up with the name as a nod to his alma mater, Duke. The JV teams at the time were called the Blue Imps rather than the Blue Devils, and a less colorful version has stuck at Cary.

6. Rampants (J.H. Rose HS)

This unique mascot is a combination of “Rams” and “Panthers,” which were the mascots of Greenville and C.M. Eppes high schools that combined to become J.H. Rose.

7. Rowdy Rebel Bulls (South Stanly HS)

Even if they were just the Rowdy Bulls or the Rebel Bulls, they’d have the nickname to themselves. But the Rowdy Rebel Bulls is even better, and their logo is fantastic — an SS with a bullhorn coming out each side.

8. Villains (Bishop McGuinness HS)

Don’t root against the Villains. They aren’t what they appear to be at first glance. From the Bishop McGuinness website: "Our school mascot, ‘The Villain,’ comes from our early roots at the Villa Marie Anna Academy. The school motto, ‘Praesis ut Prosis,’ is taken from the seal of the late Bishop Eugene J. McGuinness and serves as a challenge for all who would desire ‘to excel that they might better serve.’” 

9. Whirlies (Grimsley HS)

Grimsley’s mascot was originally the Purple Whirlwinds in 1921, but that stopped making much sense when they switched team colors from purple and gold to navy and white in 1951. The team’s nickname evolved to become the Whirlies, but its physical mascot is still a whirlwind.

10. Wonders (A.L. Brown HS)

A.L. Brown is in Kannapolis, which explains its K logo on uniforms (not potassium). Back when the school opened as Central High School in 1924, the football team had only 12 players and won zero games. One story goes that the nickname Wonders originated in 1925, when someone said, "It was a Wonder the team could win a game."

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports


Published
Mike Swanson, SBLive Sports
MIKE SWANSON

Mike Swanson is the VP of Content for High School On SI. He's been in journalism since 2003, having worked as a reporter, city editor, copy editor and high school sports editor in California, Connecticut and Oregon.