The National Stadium should be abuzz with excitement as two of the best football-playing schoolboy teams, Clarendon College and Kingston College (KC), clash for the ISSA Champions Cup and the whopping $1-million dollar prize.

Clarendon College, who won the all-island Olivier Shield last year, will start favourites to continue their dominance of schoolboy football following their flawless display this season, and are hunting their first lien on the Champions Cup. Match time is 5:00 pm.

But they won’t be having things their own way as they face a KC team that suffered their first loss for the season in the Manning Cup semi-finals, and this is their last chance to win any silverware so they should be coming out with all guns blazing.

KC will be trying to create history as the first school to lift the Champions Cup twice following their maiden win in 2017 when they defeated St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS).

The rich Champions Cup, which started in 2014 as the Flow Super Cup, was won by Jamaica College, St George’s College triumphs in 2015, followed by Wolmer’s Boys; in 2016, KC in 2017 and Cornwall College in 2018.

Clarendon College, under the guidance of Lenworth Hyde, have been playing attractive football all season, and their run in the Champions Cup, saw them brush aside some top-quality teams in Wolmer’s Boys’ (2-0), St Andrew Technical High (STATHS) (2-1) and dethroned champions Cornwall College (3-0).

Up to a few days ago, Clarendon College and KC were the only two unbeaten teams in schoolboy football, but the Famed Purples lost that record via a penalty shoot-out after battling to a 0-0 draw with JC in the Manning Cup semi-final.

Clarendon College are in the final of the daCosta Cup, while KC are out of the Manning Cup, and coach Hyde is cognisant of the fact and expects the boys from North Street to throw everything at them.

“They got knocked out of the Manning Cup and this is the only chance for a silverware this year, so I know they will be coming with guns blazing. But we are confident and we have prepared well and its gonna be an exciting game.

“It’s a final and it’s a tough game for us to play against KC which is a good team. It’s gonna be tough, but we are prepared for it. This is one of our goals for this season, so we have to go out there and try and get a good result,” said Hyde.

Clarendon College will be depending on the likes of Sheldon Smart, Jalan Larman, Roderick Granville, Dane Chambers, Kenroy Stodart, Tahjay Williams, Omar Reid, Jamari Howell, Adrian King, Earl Simpson and Prince Daniel Smith for victory.

It will be interesting to see how KC will react following the big disappointment of losing their Manning Cup title. They can either be hungry for this Champions Cup or they can be totally deflated from Wednesday’s defeat.

KC, like many other school teams, are known for their fighting spirit and coach Ludlow Bernard and his staff would have done the repair job for them to come out and give of their best.

However, Bernard who noted that his youthful team is yet to taste defeat in the normal 90 minutes of play, said his charges are raring to go.

“I expect an exciting game, a tactical battle as the teams come with two different styles and it makes for a good game. The fluent easy-on-the-eyes style of Clarendon versus the hard-running Kingston College team,” he pointed out.

“We are going to be dependent on our hard running style because that is what has taken us to the position that we now occupy. We probably would make a few adjustments as to how we are approaching the game because this Clarendon college team is a very good one and cannot be taken lightly. We respect the team but [are] not fearful,” said Bernard.

Calvin Gardener, who won the Champions Cup with Cornwall College last year, will be hunting his second crown this time with KC and he, along with captain Jamari Morrison, Dwayne Atkinson, Ronaldo Robinson, Tyrese Williams, Demario McCarthy, Sajar Blair, Scott McLeod and Rajiv Gavin will be key to the push for glory.