Battle of the Valley — middle‑school flag football

Castro Valley’s middle-school rivalry moves to the football field again this week, with Canyon and Creekside set for a “Battle of the Valley” flag football game at Castro Valley High School. (sites.google.com) Creekside Middle School’s athletics calendar lists “Flag Football Battle of the Valley @ CVHS 6:00 pm” on Friday of the April 20, 2026 week. The Marin Independent Journal included the game in its Bay Area events calendar for April 24-30. (sites.google.com) (marinij.com) The matchup pits the two public middle schools in Castro Valley Unified School District against each other: Canyon Middle School and Creekside Middle School. Canyon’s mascot is the Condors, and Creekside’s athletics site identifies its teams as the Wildcats. (cv.k12.ca.us) (canyon.cv.k12.ca.us) (sites.google.com) “Battle of the Valley” is not a one-off label for this week’s game. A Castro Valley News Facebook post from 2023 called it the “annual” flag football game and said Canyon beat Creekside 14-8 that year. (facebook.com) The rivalry has also expanded in recent seasons as girls flag football took hold at the middle-school level. A Patch community calendar listing for December 2025 described Canyon vs. Creekside as the first girls’ flag football “Battle of the Valley” and a fundraiser for both schools’ athletic programs. (patch.com) That gives this week’s game a little more weight than a standard campus matchup: it is a local rivalry, it is attached to a district with only two middle schools, and it lands in a spring schedule where Creekside lists multiple flag football teams, including varsity and junior varsity. (sites.google.com) (cv.k12.ca.us) For families looking for the basics, the published details are straightforward: Friday, 6 p.m., at Castro Valley High School. The public listing in the Marin Independent Journal’s April 24-30 events guide is the place to check for the calendar entry as the weekend begins. (sites.google.com) (marinij.com)