DEFENDING ISSA daCosta Cup champions Clarendon College are expected to pick up where they left off last season when they start their quest for honours in the 2023 schoolboy football season with a Zone H game against Lennon High, as part of the official start at the National Stadium, set to start at 3:00 pm.

The Lenworth Hyde-coached team are coming off a season when they dominated from start to finish and won both the daCosta Cup and the Olivier Shield, traditional symbols of schoolboy football supremacy.

Two other games will be played today as well, both in Zone B, where former champions Rusea’s will be away to Cambridge High, while Frome Technical will host Merlene Ottey High at Frome Sports Complex. Both games are set to start at 3:30 pm.

Clarendon College, whose only loss came in the ISSA Cup KO against Kingston College, will have the services of the likes of Christopher Hull, Kaheem Dixon, Devonti Hodges and Malachi Douglas.

Lennon High just failed to get out of the first round last year and lost twice to Clarendon College, 4-0 and 3-0, in their first-round meetings.

Frome Technical are also optimistic they will get back to being contenders after retaining as many as 14 players from last season. Coach Cleighton Stephens told the Jamaica Observer on Friday, “We have a balanced team and yes, we hope to do well this season,” adding that optimism was high.

Frome Technical have never lost a game to Merlene Ottey who they battered 9-0 and 8-0 last year.

Rusea’s High have added the veteran Paul “Tegat” Davis to their coaching staff this season; and while they should get the better of Cambridge High who are returning for the first time since the 2018 season, this could be the start of a rebuilding process.