What are Georgia’s most popular high school mascots? No. 1 is probably what you expected

The annual start of Georgia’s high-school football season revs up fans to cheer for their schools’ teams featuring time-honored mascots.

Here are the mascots most popularly used today in Georgia high schools, as compiled from statistics provided by the Georgia High School Football Historians Association.

5. Wildcats, Warriors

Eighteen Georgia high schools each share Wildcats and Warriors as their mascot. In the Augusta area, that includes Augusta’s Lucy C. Laney Wildcats and, in Columbia County, the Grovetown Warriors.

The best-known Wildcats statewide, and perhaps nationally, are from Valdosta High School. The south Georgia football powerhouse has won 24 state championships and even six national titles.

The Warriors with Georgia's best record are from Southwest Georgia Academy in the tiny town of Damascus, about 45 miles from Albany. Southwest earned six state titles and 16 regional crowns.

4. Panthers

Twenty-one Georgia high schools root for the Panthers. Closest to home are the Lakeside High School Panthers in Evans, winning just one region crown over the team’s 35 seasons. The winningest Panthers are from Clinch County High School, which holds eight state championships and 17 regional titles.

Learning experience: One thing we discovered about each Augusta-area high school football team during Week 1

3. Tigers

Twenty-three Georgia high schools have Tigers as a mascot. The exclusive Rome boarding academy, the Darlington School, started playing football as the Tigers in 1910. The winningest Tigers in Georgia are from Commerce High School, taking two state titles and 18 regional titles.

2. Eagles

Twenty-six high schools in the state are flying high with Eagles for a mascot. Mitchell County High School in southwest Georgia, playing football for more than a century, has won three state titles and 20 region crowns.

1. Bulldogs

Twenty-nine Georgia teams cheer on the Bulldogs, including Columbia County’s Harlem High School, which won just its second region title in the 2022 season, and posted its first-ever playoff win with a 35-0 shutout of Long County.

In nearby McDuffie County, Thomson High School’s Bulldogs chalked up a 14-1 record in 2022 to win both a region championship and the state championship. Also, Augusta’s Butler High School have played as the Bulldogs since 1960.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: See Georgia’s most popular high school mascots – is No. 1 surprising?