Top 10 high school mascots in Massachusetts: Vote for the best

From Clockers to Blue Bombardiers to Red Rocketeers, meet the best high school mascots in Massachusetts

Salem High School Witches logo. / SBLive archives

Crazy stuff tends to happen when Blue Bombardiers meet Red Rocketeers, as high school mascot fans in Massachusetts are well aware.

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 Massachusetts (vote in the poll below to pick your favorite):

The poll will close at 11:59 p.m. ET Thursday, Oct. 31.

1. Blue Bombardiers (Attleboro HS)

Attleboro's Blue Bombardier mascot originated during World War II to honor those who served in the war. The school's new and improved Blue Eagle mascot received boisterous approval in November 2022.

2. Canalmen (Bourne HS)

Named in honor of the canal that separates Cape Cod with the rest of Massachusetts, Bourne for years shared its mascot with a Cape Cod League baseball team. But now that that team is called the Bourne Braves, Bourne High School has the Canalmen all to itself.

3. Clockers (Ashland HS)

Ashland teams sport cartoon clocks on their uniforms in honor of the Warren Clock Company, a big job provider in town in the early to mid-1900s that was founded by MIT grad Henry Ellis Warren, inventor of the electric clock.

4. Craftsmen (Bristol-Plymouth HS)

Bristol-Plymouth's sports teams are the Craftsmen, but its physical mascot is Crafty the Craftsman, a thick-mustache-sporting, hard-hat-wearing fellow who looks well past high school age.

5. M-Cats (Maimonides)

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more academic back story than this one in explaining a high school’s mascot. The school’s teams took on the nickname in the mid-1980s because several varsity basketball players were planning to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

6. Millionaires (Lenox Memorial)

Lenox Memorial's nickname dates to the late 1800s, when the area served as a summer colony for some of the country's wealthiest families. Their mascot is a sporting Monopoly Man.

7. Red Rocketeers (North Attleboro HS)

One of the most colorful high school football rivalries in history takes place on Thanksgiving when the Red Rocketeers take on the Blue Bombardiers. The only Rocketeers in the country of any color, they often go simply by Big Red.

8. Spy Ponders (Arlington HS)

Arlington's unique nickname is derived from Spy Pond in Arlington, and it goes back a long way. From the school website: "The name 'Spy Ponders' was first recorded in 1867 when the town changed its name from West Cambridge to Arlington following the Civil War to honor the soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Spy Ponders referred to the ice cutters and farmers who lived in the area."

9. Witches (Salem HS)

Salem High School Witches logo. / SBLive archives

Two other U.S. high schools use the Witches as their mascot, but no one can pull it off with such historical authenticity like Salem, Massachusetts.

10. Woolies (Millbury HS)

Longtime Worcester Telegram cartoonist Al Banx named the Millbury High School teams the Woolies because the town housed a number of mills, including spinning mills used to produce woolen clothing.

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