Best high school mascot in Utah: Top 5 candidates

From Beetdiggers to Dinos, meet the best high school mascots in Utah

Utah is a state where you can dig at one depth for sugar beets and another for dinosaur fossils.

And you're always welcome to wonder about what exactly a Moqui is.

SBLive Sports' love for unique mascots with interesting back stories has been well documented.

We've crowned Hodags and Imps the past couple of years in national high school mascot contests, and now we're taking a spin through every state.

Over the past couple of months we've been going from Alabama through Wyoming featuring each state's best high school mascots, and then giving readers a chance to vote for their favorite. Our Utah poll posted Nov. 25 on highschool.si.com and will stay open through Dec. 2:

Vote: Which is the best high school mascot in Utah?

Here are the top five high school mascots in Utah:

Carbon Dinos

Carbon used to have the only Dinosaurs in the nation in the high school sports world, and after shortening the name, it now has the only Dinos. Carbon County is known for its dinosaur fossils, and Carbon High School went with a bright blue dinosaur as its mascot.

Davis Darts

Davis’ Dart Man has been patrolling sporting events’ sidelines since 1978, after the mascot materialized as a drawn cartoon character in 1962. Davis, established in 1914, has won the second-most Utah high school sports championships (94) in the state.

Escalante Moquis

There’s a longer explanation of how Escalante became the Moquis, but here’s a relatively short version: “Sometime soon after Escalante High School started with just a ninth grade in 1921, the Moqui was chosen as the school mascot. Because of the mixed up history of what and who a Moqui is, the mascot has taken on many varied faces and forms. Periodically news sportswriters contact Escalante High School asking why EHS has not changed its mascot to something more politically and culturally correct. There is a perfectly logical answer: It is safe to say that the Moqui Indians of Escalante High School rode unicorns when they went to hunt dragons.”

Jordan Beetdiggers

Jordan High School for years offered a two-week break of its own for students to assist in harvesting sugar beets, the area's main crop.

Manti Templars

Manti, a small town in central Utah founded in 1849, is home to one of the first Mormon temples in the state. And the school colors are red and white, the same colors worn by Templar Knights of the Middle Ages.

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