Tonight’s Turkey Tussle: Muir’s 46th Victory or Pasadena High’s Comeback?

[Originally published November 5, 2013]  The crosstown rivalry between John Muir and Pasadena High School continues with the 67th Annual Turkey Tussle Football Game in the Rose Bowl on Friday, November 8 at 7:00 p.m.

John Muir has held on to the the Turkey Tussle’s Victory Bell for the past 14 years since 1999, but there is no telling on what can happen this year especially when a new coach is in command at PHS.

Doug Bledsoe was named varsity football head coach last January and it will be his first time to coach in the Turkey Tussle.

“I’ve gone into grocery stores and people of all ages step up to me and  they just say to me, ‘bring the bell back’,'” Bledsoe said this week.

Asked what to expect on the upcoming Turkey Tussle, Bledsoe was quick to answer: “We’re going to win the game.”

“We’re prepared to win,” Bledsoe said. “We’re going to give you everything we’ve got.”

It won’t be a joyride for Pasadena High as two-year John Muir Varsity football coach John Hardy is prepared to earn another Turkey Tussle victory for his alma matter.

“[The Turkey Tussle] is just an exciting thing. I get excited for it every year,” Hardy said.

“Playing in it and then coaching in it are two different aspects to it, but it feels the same,” added Hardy, who was able to play in the tournament himself when he was a student of John Muir in the 1980s.

The Mustangs beat the Bulldogs in an embarassing 37-7 win last year, but Pasadena High is aiming to get back the Victory Bell which it won during the first tournament in 1947.

“We’re the Pasadena High School. We’re the flagship. And so I know it means something to Muir because they want that same type of title, the same type of feeling towards their school,” Bledsoe said.

Hardy said he is satisfied with the Mustangs’ current standing in the league, but is setting higher goals including to win the Turkey Tussle on Friday, as well as the CIF.

“We’re satisfied where we’re at right now, but we still got bigger feats for ourselves,” Hardy said. “We’re taking one game at a time.”

The Bulldogs’ football coach admit to a tough football season this year, but said that the school is working on improving its athletic programs.

“When we got here, our objective was to evaluate the program from inside out,” said Bledsoe, who has been a coach for the past 20 years. “We get inside and find out what the strengths and weaknesses of the program and then we build from there.”

“Going into this week, we made some mistakes and we made a lot of good play but we got a lot of youth on our team,” Bledsoe added.

Many of the schools’ alumni who are former NFL, MLB and Olympic are expected to watch the tournament.

John Muir High alumnus and Pasadena Police Chief Deputy, Darryl Qualls, will also be supporting his alma matter at the game.

Qualls said the Turkey Tussle, which is the only high school tournament being held at the Rose Bowl, gives the chance to many young people to play in the iconic stadium.

“Being a police officer and being a graduate of John Muir, it was my thought to try to ensure that young men and women who were born and raised in Pasadena got a chance to play in an iconic stadium,” Qualls said. “[Give them a chance] to go to the Rose Bowl because a lot of folks never set foot inside the stadium.”

He noted that many people were afraid that the Annual Turkey Tussle may not be held at Rose Bowl in the future because of budget cuts and lack of audience.

“I wanted to make sure that during the financial crisis of the city and the school district, and I saw it first-hand that the funds were sloping a little bit, that I wanted to try to find a way to help offset the cost, so that when the school district said, ‘We can no longer afford to do it,’ or when the city said, ‘Hey, it’s just so much of a burden to the city,’ I will say that let’s do something to help raise our own money so that we can keep the tradition alive,” Qualls said.

Ticket booths will open at 5:45 p.m. and pre-game activities will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets cost from $5 to $10 each and are available for purchase at the Rose Bowl Box Office, 1001 Rose Bowl Dr.

The Annual Turkey Tussle Football Game tradition began in 1947 when the game was played between Pasadena Community College and John Muir Junior College. The two schools played until 1953. In 1954 the annual rivalry was played between what is now Pasadena High School and John Muir High School.

For more information, call (626) 396-5880 or visit www.phs.pasadenausd.org.