Top 5 high school mascots in Mississippi: Vote for the best

From Tartars to Whippets, meet the best high school mascots in Mississippi

East Union Urchins logs. / SBLive archives

After a high school football playoffs pause, High School on SI is back to featuring the best high school mascots in every state, giving readers a chance to vote for No. 1 in all 50.

We left off at Michigan in November, and we're resuming our A-through-W run through all the states with Mississippi.

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 5 high school mascots in Mississippi (vote in the poll below to pick your favorite):

The poll will close at 11:59 p.m. ET Monday, Jan. 6.

1. Maroon Tide (Picayune HS)

There's one other Maroon Tide among U.S. high schools (Galax, Virginia), but the Picayune Maroon Tide set themselves apart with a phenomenal logo — an angry-looking maroon wave appearing eager to pick a fight.

2. Rock-a-Chaws (St. Stanislaus HS)

Rock-a-Chaw comes from an old Choctaw word meaning “devil grass,” and it refers to the pesky little sand burrs that abounded on the St. Stanislaus campus before the lawns were cultivated.

3. Tartars (Taylorsville HS)

Tartars are fierce Mongolian warriors that date back to the days of Genghis Khan. That fighting spirit remains alive in Taylorsville, Mississippi.

4. Urchins (East Union HS)

Formerly called the Epic Urchins, East Union's mascot comes from Greek mythology, where the god of the sea had daughters who rode seahorses. This is why the East Union logo boasts a seahorse rather than a sea urchin.

5. Whippets (Kosciusko HS)

Kosciusko isn't the only high school in the country called the Whippets, but it's the only one with a smiling physical whippet mascot named Whippy to whip the fans into a frenzy at sporting events.

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