MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: Pennsylvania high school mascots

Just as important as a school's name and its location is its mascot. Options abound, and some teams go with the commonplace while others go with the truly unique.

In Pennsylvania, there are 689 schools with mascots listed in the MaxPreps database. Listed below are the Top 15 most popular mascot names in Pennsylvania, the mascot names that only one school owns and other mascot facts/stats.

HAMBURGER-THEMED MASCOT: BIG MACS
If you know the words to the song, you can guess the mascot for Canon-McMillan (Canonsburg). "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun." Sound familiar? The answer is the Big Macs. That's a hamburger-themed mascot name, but it actually has nothing to do with the McDonald's national icon. Canon-McMillan is the Big Macs likely due to the "Mc" in the school name, because the mascot looks more like a Highlander, or a Scottish soldier from the highlands. Also, though likely unrelated, the first McDonald's to sell the Big Mac was in nearby Pittsburgh. Looks like McDonald's has this market cornered: Nobody is the Whoppers, the Double-Doubles or the Western Bacon Cheeseburgers.

FIGHTIN' PLANETS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD
You can be a "Fightin'" anything. But you should definitely consider going big. Take the example of the people from Mars (The town, not the planet). They are the Fightin' Planets, and when it comes to things that fall into the fightin' category, you can't get much bigger than a planet. They're uncertain about the origin of the town's name, as it is either shortened from Marshall or was named Mars because one of the founders had a wife who loved astronomy. Kudos to the community for choosing a mascot name that fits the town name, and we're sure Mars is proud to be the only school in the nation with a planet as its mascot name.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN-INSPIRED
It's a good thing the kids from Benjamin Franklin (Philadelphia) don't have to play against a school named the Protons. Otherwise, they would be outmatched and outweighed about 1,200 times. Don't worry about the negative charge associated with the Electrons. After all, while the protons and neutrons are just hanging out in the center of the atom, the Electrons are working hard, running around the edges. Benjamin Franklin's name is one of America's most important when it comes to history, and though he did not discover the electron directly, he is credited with many previous findings that led to the eventual discovery.

KONKRETE KIDS DEFY SPELLING RULES
Well they may not spell "Concrete" well but we are going to forgive Northampton for being the Konkrete Kids. It's about as unique a mascot name as possible, and it's an homage to the industry that made Northampton famous for decades. Northampton, located in eastern Pennsylvania, was one of the nation's top concrete producers for decades. In fact, it has been noted that Northampton supplied a lot of the concrete used in the construction of the Panama Canal. The Konkrete Kids is certainly a mascot name that you won't forget, so at Northampton, it's mission accomplished.



MILLIONAIRES FROM LONG AGO
Talk about a rich mascot name. We'd bet our money that Williamsport has the most net worth tied to its mascot name that any other school in the nation. OK, maybe one other has that much. The Millionaires come from the town that hosts the Little League World Series each year, and back in the 1800s, Williamsport was home to a bustling lumber industry. According to a page on the school's website, Williamsport was home to more millionaires per capita than any other city in the nation at some point in the 1800s, and so the school took on the unique nickname. The only other Millionaires in the nation are from Lenox Memorial (Mass.).

TOP 15 MOST POPULAR MASCOT NAMES
# Panthers 30 (There is 1 Black Panthers)
# Indians 23 (There is 1 Little Indians)
# Warriors 23
# Eagles 22 (There are 4 Golden Eagles and 1 Bald Eagles)
# Trojans 22
# Lions 21 (There is 1 Golden Lions and 1 Little Lions)
Spartans 20
# Cougars 19
# Vikings 19
Rams 19 (There is 1 Golden Rams)
# Tigers 17 (There is 1 Fightin' Tigers and 1 Golden Tigers)
# Knights 17 (There are 3 Golden Knights 1 Black Knights, 1 Blue Knights and 1 Green Knights)
# Bulldogs 15
# Wildcats 15 (There is 1 Wild Cats)
# Raiders 13 (There are 7 Red Raiders and 2 Blue Raiders)
# Denotes mascot name is in America's Top 15

MASCOT NAMES USED BY ONLY 1 SCHOOL

Aces Antelopes *Argent *Bald Eagles Barons *Battling Bulls *Battling Miners Berries *Big Macs Big Reds Black Hawks Black Knights Black Panthers Blackhawks Blue Bombers Blue Demons Blue Jays Blue Knights *Blue Pirates *Blue Storm Blue Streaks *Bridgers *Bubblers *Buckhorns *Buckskins Bucs Buffaloes Bullets Bulls *Cahillite *Canaries *Canners *Cedars Centurions Chiefs

*Chucks *Churchmen Clippers Colonels Crushers Defenders Drakes Dukes Dutchmen Dynamos *Electrons *Elker Elks Explorers *Fightin' Planets Fightin' Tigers Fighting Irish Fighting Owls Firebirds Flames *Flying Dutch Foresters Foxes Galloping Ghosts Generals Gladiators Golden Beavers Golden Hawks Golden Lions *Golden Mules Golden Rams Golden Tide Golden Tigers Golden Tornado *Grape Pickers

Green Dragons Green Knights Green Wave Gremlins Grenadiers Griffins Hatters Hillers Hilltoppers *Hubbers Invaders Jayhawks *Jems *Konkrete Kids Lakers Leopards *Little Indians *Little Lions  *Muhls Muskies Nighthawks Oilers Olympians Orioles Phantoms Phoenix Pirates Polar Bears Lynx Maples Marauders Meteors *Mighty Elephants *Mighty Mikes Millionaires

Mohawks *Prexies *Quips *Rail Splitters Razorbacks Rebels Red Dragons *Red Tornado Rough Riders Rovers *Royal Lancers Sailors Scouts *Seals Shamrocks Slaters Speedboys Squires *Steamrollers Steelers Stingers *Swords *Talbots Terrors Thunder Thunderbolts Thundering Herd Tide Timberwolves Vanguards Victors Whippets *Wild Cats Yellow Jackets Zephyrs

* Denotes that no other school in America has that mascot name

MASCOT STATS
Most popular mascot name is used by 4.4 percent of schools.
There are 214 different mascot names for 689 schools.
40 schools have mascot names that no other American school has.
Pennsylvania's Top 15 features 13 of America's Top 15 mascot names.