A local minister in Warner Robins (Ga.) has complained that local high school's nickname, the Demons, sends a bad message to students.
While Donald Crosby, a pastor at Kingdom Builders Church of Jesus Christ, moves ahead with his petition to have the mascot changed, here are 10 facts you probably didn’t know about the presence of devil names in Georgia high schools:
1.
Warner Robins High, best known in sports for its football state titles in 1976, 1981 and 1988, is the only Georgia school nicknamed the Demons. Shortly after opening in 1944, Warner Robins took its nickname from the 7th fighter squadron nicknamed the Screamin’ Demons. Their planes were based and repaired at Robins Air Force Base during and after World War II. Pastor Crosby correctly notes that Warner Robins’ physical mascot is a red demon, however, and not a plane.
2. The use of the devil nickname is falling out of favor in Georgia and perhaps around the country. While there are 19 Georgia schools with a devil mascot, the only new school in the past 40 years to adopt one is
Randolph-Clay (Cuthbert, Ga.) (Red Devils) in 1981. During the same time, seven new schools have adopted the nickname Eagles.
3. There are at least 27 closed high schools in Georgia that used a devil mascot, according to the Georgia High School Basketball Project. The best-sounding was the Red Devils of Nevils, a small town in Bulloch County. Nevils High closed in 1955.
4. No Georgia private school has ever nicknamed itself after a demon or devil. Most private schools in Georgia have religious affiliations.
5. At least one Georgia high school has changed its nickname due to political correctness. In the early 1970s, Brown of Atlanta changed its name from the Rebels to Jaguars. Brown, the alma mater of Pepper Rodgers, was the first Georgia high school to integrate its football team, around 1962.
6. One of the most provocative devil mascots in Georgia history was the Satans. That was the name of Sandersville’s sports teams until the school merged with the Tenille Tigers in 1959 to become Washington County Hawks. That ended the soulful rivalry between the Satans and Sparta Saints to to the north.
7. Only one school in the Georgia High School Association today is called the Saints. That’s
Cedar Grove (Ellenwood, Ga.) in DeKalb County.
8. Seven Georgia high schools are still called Red Devils, most notably
Lincoln County (Lincolnton, Ga.), a school that has won 13 state championships in football. Other Red Devils are
Bowdon (Bowdon, Ga.),
Druid Hills (Atlanta, Ga.),
Hawkinsville (Hawkinsville, Ga.),
Jackson (Atlanta, Ga.),
Loganville (Loganville, Ga.) and Randolph-Clay.
9. Ten Georgia schools are called Blue Devils, most notably
Norcross (Norcross, Ga.), which has become prominent lately as a boys and girls basketball state power. Other Blue Devils are
Avondale (Avondale Estates, Ga.),
Bremen (Bremen, Ga.),
Elbert County (Elberton, Ga.),
Manchester (Manchester, Ga.),
Marietta (Marietta, Ga.),
Model (Rome, Ga.),
Statesboro (Statesboro, Ga.) and
Tift County (Tifton, Ga.). No new school in the past 50 years has named itself the Blue Devils.
10.
Warren County (Warrenton, Ga.) is called the Screaming Devils. This nickname came about in 1970 during integration. The school for whites was nicknamed the Blue Devils. The school for African-Americans was called the Screaming Eagles after the 101st Airborne Division. (Both schools were called Warrenton.) When Warren County opened, the sports teams were called the Screaming Devils.
