Best high school mascots in America: 15 most unique nicknames (Class Struggle Bracket)

Welcome to the 11th of 12 editions in our quest to find the fans' favorite high school sports nickname

Tustin Tillers photo by Lance Smith

Last month we began our quest to find the fans' favorite high school sports nickname in the country.

We split up our favorite names by category with 15 entries each, and our first of 12 editions was the Jobs Bracket, followed by the Animals Bracket and then the Mythical Creatures Bracket.

Week 2 stuck to an academic theme with the Historical Figures Bracket, followed by the Geography Bracket and finally the Science Bracket.

Week 3 started with the Food Bracket, followed by the Action Bracket and then the Pun Bracket.

Vote now: Which high school has the best mascot in America? (Action Bracket)

Vote now: Which high school has the best mascot in America? (Pun Bracket)

Vote now: Which high school has the best mascot in America? (Stuff Bracket)

We kicked off the final week of the opening round with the highfalutin Stuff Bracket, and now we turn to the dichotomous Class Struggle Bracket. Check scorebooklive.com tomorrow for a poll to vote on your favorite.

Yuma Criminals (Arizona)

Here's how Yuma High School tells it: In 1913, "the Yuma football team traveled to Phoenix to play the 'Coyotes.' Yuma High won. The angry 'Coyotes' dubbed the Yuma High players the 'Criminals.' At first 'Criminals' was a fighting word. Before long, students and teachers wore the name with pride, and in 1917, the school board officially adopted the nickname. Yuma High School has been proudly called the home of the 'Criminals' ever since."

Muskogee Roughers (Oklahoma)

The Roughers earned their name way back in 1925 because several members of the football team played without helmets due to lack of funding, and they played rough anyway.

Kingsford Flivvers (Michigan)

“Flivver” was a term for a beat-up car that was popular in the 1910s and 1920s, and Kingsford is a Ford town.

Man Hillbillies (West Virginia)

Several high schools in the U.S. go by the Hillbillies, but no city name makes it work quite like Man, West Virginia.

Pleasant Hill Billies (Oregon)

And because it’s a little different than all the other Hillbillies, we have to give this one a nod for being so darn pleasant.

South Portland Red Riots (Maine)

The nickname has nothing to do with an actual riot. Local legend suggests a sports reporter back in the day described a South Portland team as coming out of halftime looking like a red riot, and the name stuck.

Cheyenne Desert Shields (Nevada)

The North Las Vegas school was built in 1991, a year after the United States’ Operation Desert Shield began in Iraq. For Native Americans, a desert shield is a protective hide that is often decorated with bright designs and feathers.

Cleveland Addams Executives (Ohio)

Named after the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Jane Addams, these Executives mean business.

Watersmeet Nimrods (Michigan)

Per NFHS: "The Nimrod mascot represents an outdoorsman and has biblical roots. Nimrod was a mighty hunter and the son of Cush and great-grandson of Noah. The nickname is extremely popular in the community, and has been the subject of an eight-part documentary, Nimrod Nation, and an ESPN commercial."

Millionaires (Williamsport Area, Pennsylvania; Lenox Memorial, Massachusetts)

In the late 1800s, Williamsport had more millionaires per capita than anywhere in the U.S. thanks to the booming lumber industry. Lenox Memorial's nickname also dates to the late 1800s, when the area served as a summer colony for some of the country's wealthiest families.

Allegany Campers (Maryland)

“Camp Hill,” the site of the present-day Allegany, was a federal army camp during the Civil War, and Allegany High School honors that history by calling themselves the Campers.

Tustin Tillers (California)

Tustin High School, alma mater of former NFL running back DeShaun Foster, has been known as the Tillers since the school opened in the early 1920s. The name is a reference to the farmers who once made up much of Tustin’s population. Today, the median home price in Tustin is a shade below $1 million.

Sturgis Scoopers (South Dakota)

According to the school’s website, the history of “Scooptown” was derived from the nickname given to Sturgis by the cavalrymen stationed at nearby Fort Meade in the late 1800s. Cavalrymen, who claimed they were “scooped” every payday by the merchants of Sturgis began referring to Sturgis as “Scooptown.” Merchants didn’t mind the nickname and claimed that the cavalrymen spent so much money in Sturgis that it could be literally “scooped” from the streets.

Pender Pendragons (Nebraska)

The Pendragon refers to a dragon leader of other dragons in Celtic mythology. And in medieval times, there were leaders of clans. The leaders of clans were dragons, and the leaders of all the clans were called pendragons. “The pendragon was kind of like the leader of leaders,” Jason Dolliver, the Pender Public Schools superintendent, told the Norfolk Daily News in 2014.

City Baptist School Overcomers (Indiana)

No lead is safe against this Hammond, Indiana, team.