Canyon vs Creekside Showdown The "Super Bowl" of Eighth Grade Football By: Brian Emanuele and Chris Steele

On October 26, 2000 one of the East Bay’s greatest rivalries was played at Castro Valley High School.  Two undefeated teams faced off in what would be the “Super Bowl” of eighth grade football.  It was a very rainy day  and  it was questionable whether the game would be played at all.   It was, and what a game it turned out to be. 

The two schools were cross-town rivals Creekside Middle School and Canyon Middle School, undefeated in the past six years.  The two teams are coached by Andy Popper from Creekside and Bob Friery, a Castro Valley coaching icon.

The opening kick-off by Kory Rose was a beauty, and  Canyon’s return team ran the ball back to the 35 yard line.  That’s where the offense would take over.  Canyon’s quarterback Chris Cobb, who was 12-22 in the game, started it off with a five yard completion to Jason Castro.  However the drive was stopped when Canyon went three and out.  

The second quarter came quick but both defenses were standing strong, not allowing any points yet.  Jarrod Marini, Chris Cobb, Justin Kaady, and Spencer Bard were all leading the defense for Canyon.  For the game they all combined for 7 sacks.

The second quarter went by quick as neither offenses could move the football.  The field was a muddy mess.  They went into the locker rooms 0-0.  The second half would be unforgettable. In the locker room coach Friery said, “We need to make the big play to win the game.”

The opening drive for Creekside in the third quarter went down to the one yard line.  The suspense was growing!  Would Creekside score?  Or would the Canyon defense stand strong?  The Canyon defense came up with the biggest stop of the season, regaining the ball.

Chris Steele and Temoc Munoz both caught their first passes of the game to pick up a first down for the Condors.  On the next play Chris Cobb dropped back to pass and nailed Jason Huber for a 55 yard touchdown, but there was a flag on the play.  Off-sides on the offense, 5 yard penalty no touchdown.  Coach Friery said after the game, “The little things win big ball games, and we think that, that was one of those little things.”  The game remained scoreless after the third quarter.  Only one quarter left and  the score was still 0-0.

The forth quarter started off with a bang as Chris Steele caught a pass and was just about out of bounds at the one yard line.  The condors had four plays to get in the end zone from the one yard line, but failed that simple task.  The  game was winding down and still it was 0-0. By this time both teams were cold and muddy as they were beaten down by the rain for four quarters.  Canyon’s defense was getting tired but they held Creekside to their last drive of the game.  Coach Bolar said “The red defense did their job to keep our six year undefeated streak alive." So the game came down to this: with one minute to go Canyon got the ball back.  They drove down the field firing passes left and right.  They were at the 45 yard line of Creekside when they called a time-out to stop the clock at 7 seconds.  Canyon came out lined up, Matt Louie snapped the ball to Chris Cobb, he dropped back to pass. Temoc Munoz who was the running back at the time ran a seam route and caught the pass in  the center of the field wide open. He ran for the end zone. TOUCHDOWN!!!!  The fans were all running out onto the field everyone was going crazy but, suddenly the referee was telling everyone that Munoz had stepped out of bounds. Everyone was disappointed. Everyone was chanting “Overtime, overtime, overtime” but the two principals said “That is enough, the game is over!”  Everyone was once again disappointed.

So that was the game, 0-0.  It was a great game. Canyon’s six year undefeated streak was intact, and Creekside Middle School had almost defeated Goliath.  Everyone is looking forward to the next Creekside vs Canyon showdown next year.

Although the six year winning streak is over, their undefeated streak is still alive.  Creekside should be very proud of themselves for stopping one of the greatest west coast teams ever.