Wednesday, November 4, 2026

Pasadena High and Muir Meet in Junior Varsity Chicken Tussle After Turkey Tussle Cancellation

Photo Credit: Evelyn Y., PHS Yearbook Staff

Muir won 19-6 after Pasadena High ended its varsity season

Junior varsity football teams from Pasadena High School and John Muir Early College Magnet High School met in the Chicken Tussle on Thursday, Oct. 29, in a season without the traditional varsity Turkey Tussle at the Rose Bowl.

Muir won 19-6, according to High School on SI. The Pasadena Unified School District’s Nov. 2 recap of the game did not include a score. The district said the Pasadena High marching band, cheer, drill and dance teams performed before a home crowd.

The district announced Sept. 11 that Pasadena High would finish the season as a junior varsity team after reviewing three games, listening to the coaches’ concerns and considering how to provide a positive experience for players. It said 10 potential starters had transferred to schools outside the district during the offseason.

“Because Pasadena High School will no longer field a varsity team this season, the annual Turkey Tussle, as we know it, at the Rose Bowl Stadium will not take place as planned,” the district said.

Pasadena High had started 0-3 and been outscored 133-14 when it forfeited a game at Monrovia scheduled for Sept. 11, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported.

“We have one team, and they’ve all got to play varsity, even though they’re probably not ready for varsity football,” coach Ron Jones said, according to the Tribune.

Pasadena High won the CIF Southern Section Division 13 title in 2024. Muir beat Pasadena High 28-20 in last year’s Turkey Tussle.

Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco wrote Sept. 15 that the district was “working to create a year-end game that celebrates the annual homecoming.”

“It’s 100% confirmed there is no Turkey Tussle,” Muir athletic director Alfredo Resendiz told Pasadena Now in September.

Resendiz estimated Turkey Tussle sales income at $15,000 to $25,000 for each school, the Pasadena Star-News reported. Pasadena Now has reported that the money pays officials for other sports and funds student government at both schools.

At the Sept. 24 Board of Education meeting, Resendiz said, “We’ve been coming up here to you for a while and saying this was going to happen, and here we are: fewer resources, smaller programming,” the Star-News reported.

Muir is now the district’s only high school with a varsity football team, Pasadena Now has reported.

The Turkey Tussle began in 1947 as a Thanksgiving Day game between Pasadena Community College and John Muir Junior College.