Did you know?
The Goblin mascot was created in 1926 by Tom Millard, a 1927 HHS graduate, to give the Harrison high school newspaper a name. The first Goblin paper was printed on October 31, 1926 with the first big story being a minute-by-minute account of the statewide tour the basketball team made with their coach, B. A. Redwine – never losing a game! The first Goblin was a fascinating little creature with a grinning face and pointed cap. It was accepted as a mascot by the basketball team that year and later by the football team, which was organized in 1929.
For 40 years, the mascot was a smiling Goblin. In the fall of 1968, the “mean” Goblin first appeared. The coach of the football team, Hulen Quattlebaum, wanted his team to be meaner Goblins. This was the first year of the two platoon system of substituting in football and Coach Quattlebaum wanted his defensive team to believe that they were the meanest! The football team had just bought new blue helmets and Coach Quattlebaum wanted new
decals of the “mean” Goblin for the helmets. The junior class, headed by Mike (Thunder) Thornton ordered decals of an angry Goblin with ragged hair to sell as a junior class project. This angry Goblin had a red face and yellow hair so that he would show up on the blue helmets. The basketball team chose to continue with the smiling, jester-like Goblin for several years. They had dark blue blazer jackets with the “good” Goblin patch on the pocket that they wore while traveling. Eventually the so-called “mean” Goblin became the only one. Through the years, the Goblin’s face has changed from red to blue, but the ragged hair and angry frown
still remain.
(Source: Harrison High School library)