Do You Remember The Little Schools’ Nicknames And Colors?

When you attend a sporting event at a Montgomery County school today, it’s easy to remember the teams’ nicknames and colors as there are only three schools…the Crawfordsville Athenians (blue and gold), the Southmont Mounties (red and gray), and the North Montgomery Chargers (blue and orange). But prior to consolidation in 1972, there had been twelve small high schools here in our county. Below is a list of the little schools. See if you can recall the nicknames and colors of their athletic teams. (I will provide the answers at the end of this column.) Alamo, Bowers, Coal Creek (consolidation of New Richmond and Wingate), Darlington, Ladoga, Linden, New Market, New Ross, Waveland, and Waynetown.

Most of these little schools had mascots, often portrayed by the elementary or high school students who dressed accordingly. Our school had mascots as early as 1917. Many of the fans dressed in the school colors when they attended the games. At tourney time in the Crawfordsville gym, one could easily determine where the students and fans were located, just be picking out the colors of a seated section. To the residents of Montgomery County, basketball game night was usually the high point of a week’s activities, and the high school was the center of action. And when their team won the County Tourney or Sectional, who was there to celebrate with a bonfire, parade, horn-honking, and back-patting? Almost everyone! And the small schools savored the “underdog” role, especially when they played against Crawfordsville. Some fans wore the school colors for several days to show their pride.

My wife and I attended some North Montgomery high school and middle school basketball games this winter, as two of our grandkids play. I knew very few of the other players personally. Back before consolidation, I knew every player on the Darlington team, and I knew their siblings and parents. In fact, I knew just about every student in the school! I think fans in those days took more interest in the games because of that.

Here are some of the nicknames of some of the small schools outside

Montgomery County: Clarks Hill Hillers, Colfax Hickories, Dayton Bulldogs, East Tipp Trojans, Jackson Township Rockets, Jamestown Little Giants, Kingman Black Aces, Klondike Nuggets, Marshall Bobcats, Mellott Derbies, North Salem Blue Devils, Pinnell Purple Dragons, Richland Township Red Devils, Roachdale Hawks, Russellville Bees, Stockwell Warriors, Veedersburg Green Devils, Wainwright Mustangs, and the Wallace Peppers.

Now, let’s take a look at our county schools: Alamo Warriors (red and white), Bowers Blackshirts (black and gold), Coal Creek Bearcats (red and black), New Richmond Scrappin’ Cardinals (blue and red), Wingate Spartans (blue and gold), Darlington Indians (red and white), Ladoga Canners (green and gold), Linden Bulldogs (black and gold), New Market Purple Flyers (purple and white), New Ross Blue Jays (blue and white), Waveland Hornets (red and white), and the Waynetown Gladiators (red and white).

I never understood why New Market teams were called the Purple Flyers, but there were other schools around the state that also had strange names…such as the Plainville Midgets, Poseyville Posies, Summitville Goblins, Advance Osceoleons, Burlington Polar Cubs, Deer Creek Crickets, Raleigh Sir-Walters, Smithville Skibos, and the West Baden Sprudels. And when our little community of Mace here in Montgomery County had a high school many years ago, their teams were called the Galloping Guys.

I enjoy watching the three schools here play against each other, and I support North Montgomery, but I will always be a Darlington Indian to the day I die…Go red and white!

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 32 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.