Cutters Vie for Title of Nation's Best High School Mascot

Named for a half-dozen football players who ditched class to catch a movie in Paterson some 70 years ago, the Cutters of Fair Lawn High School possess one of the more unique nicknames of any school in the state, according to USA Today.

The Cutters are one of 255 schools across the country -- five from each state and the District of Columbia -- up for the title of "Best High School Mascot" in a USA Today contest that began Monday.

The state round of the contest, which pits Fair Lawn against the Phillipsburg Stateliners, Point Pleasant Beach Garnet Gulls, Red Bank Catholic Caseys and Trenton Catholic Iron Mikes, runs until March 5 at 3 p.m.

Anyone at least 13 years of age is eligible to vote as many times they like (full disclosure: I've voted four times while writing up this article).

The 51 state round winners will advance to the second round, where they'll be divided into six regions and put up for another public vote from March 6 to March 14.  The six battle-tested regional winners will compete in the final round from March 15 until March 25 for the chance to be crowned the nation's best high school mascot.

The top five national finishers receive up to $2,000 in prize money for their respective athletic departments. 

As of noon Tuesday, Fair Lawn was running second among the five New Jersey competitors, but had garnered less than 2 percent of the vote. A strong early push by Point Pleasant Beach has them way ahead of the pack with more than 94 percent of the nearly 3,000 votes cast so far.

It's still early though, so I'm convinced we can catch them.

Click here to cast your vote for the Cutters.

For those interested, click here to read the full story of how the Cutters got their name from Fair Lawn sports historian and football announcer, Dick Englehardt.

--

Follow Fair Lawn-Saddle Brook Patch on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to receive our daily newsletter in your inbox each morning