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1922 or 1923, and 1919 — the record does not reconcile them
The school corporation's account: The School City of Mishawaka's own newsletter history (Robert D. Smith, October 2015) tells it this way: at a Mishawaka–South Bend High School football game at Cartier Field in 1922 or 1923, scoreless at halftime, Mishawaka's Curt Johnson posted a sign reading "OUR TEAM WILL FIGHT LIKE CAVEMEN!" — and Mishawaka won. The name stuck to the team from that day in the corporation's telling.
The second telling: A 2015 season preview history (usa-365) tells it differently: in a 1919 game against South Bend Central, a sportswriter overheard a cheerleader's cry, and the team — the Maroons before — became "officially Cavemen since the 1930s or so." The two accounts cannot both be right about the year, the opponent, or the mechanism.
What is not in dispute: The team played as the Maroons before it played as the Cavemen, the name was in full civic use by the middle of the century, and the school's gymnasium is called The Cave. The file prints both origin stories at the strength of their sources and settles neither.
Sources:
- School City of Mishawaka corporation newsletter, October 2015 (Robert D. Smith) — the Johnson sign at Cartier Field, 1922 or 1923.
- usa-365 season preview history, 2015 — the 1919 Central game and the sportswriter telling.