by Michelle Nhi Nguyen and Judy Hua, Staff Writers
Photos by Cayla Nguyen
The largest football game between rivals Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) and Edison High School (EHS), otherwise known as the Bell Game, is accepted as an annual tradition at both schools. However, do their students really understand how the whole Battle of the Bell began?
The Bell Game tradition started when Edison High School’s opening was announced in 1969, along with its plans to receive transfer students from both Huntington Beach High School (HBHS) and FVHS. At HBHS, the players in the football program planning to transfer were treated well and were allowed to continue their training during preseason. At Fountain Valley, however, players were immediately dropped by the staff from the training program upon receiving information on their planned transfers to Edison.
The first football game between Fountain Valley and Edison took place on Nov. 14, 1969 at HBHS. During this time, Fountain Valley had one of the top football teams in the league with a record of 5-2-1. They had high hopes entering the game against Edison, who held a record of 3-3-2.
According to Edison Charger Football, Fountain Valley treated this game as a mere warm-up for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), since they were expecting to make the playoffs by the end of the season. However, Edison’s close win over Fountain Valley of 21-20 dashed the Barons’ dreams of CIF that year, and thus the rivalry between the two schools on the football field was born.
In 1975, activity coordinators from both schools planned to have a cannon as the reward for the winning school, but the idea was quickly vetoed after having discovered that the World War II howitzer could actually fire. The coordinators, Dave Hagen (FVHS) and Ben Garrett (EHS) then traveled to an antique shop in rural Mission Viejo, found the rusty bell and purchased it with student funds.
After shop classes from both FV and Edison worked to revamp the bell and put it back into mint condition. The bell was presented to the winning team in the 1975 Bell Game. Ever since, the bell has served as the token of championship between the two rival schools for the following Bell Games. Now the tradition says the winning school will take home the bell, where it is to be displayed in the team’s Administration Office.
Since the very first game, Edison has won 30 games and Fountain Valley has won 14 games. There has been one tie on Oct. 4, 1975. Additionally, all Bell Games now take place at Orange Coast College (OCC), rather than HBHS, to accommodate the growing crowds.
FVHS and EHS football teams will battle for the bell once again on Friday, Oct. 30 at OCC.
