District 24 has consistently boasted of two Top 10 programs every year, and I can’t think of another district that can claim that.  You’d call it a cross-town rivalry or an English Derby but they technically are in two different cities even though they are probably only about 5 miles apart.  Last year it was Jupiter’s turn to wear the crown and they went a lot further than that, on to FHSAA glory.  In the previous three years it was Benjamin, going to a state semifinal and a state final.  Two big time programs with two head coaches that played at the highest level. How they play out this year?  Who the heck knows?  I think Jupiter still has the edge, but an edge can be a small thing.  Although Jupiter won the district final handily it was only a one-goal win in the regular season for the Warriors and this is the classic ‘throw the record book out’ matchup every time they play.  I tell everyone who listens that this is the rivalry game each year I won’t miss unless a) I have a wedding to attend outside the state b) am hospitalized or c) a tornado goes through the city . . . well, I did go to the city park in Jupiter one time and the Benjamin middle school another few times so the tornado that hit two years ago didn’t keep me away so c) is not really valid. Dwyer is always underlooked because of these two schools but they seem to pull off a big win pretty much every year so they need to be watched out for.  Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter Christian and Suncoast vie for the final district spot. Last season’s Regular Season records via MaxPreps (Note: possibility not all results were uploaded):

School Name	*W-L	*Pct.	W-L	Pct.	GF	GA
Jupiter	5-0	1.000	21-2	0.913	333	120
Benjamin	4-1	0.800	11-4	0.733	197	111
Dwyer	3-3	0.500	8-9	0.471	181	153
Jupiter Christian	1-3	0.250	6-8	0.429	91	169
Palm Beach Gardens	0-2	0.000	6-10	0.375	115	158
Suncoast	0-4	0.000	0-13	0.000	50	175

• * Denotes district data.

Okay, you’ve seen enough of the MaxPreps warning, so we’ll leave it alone going forward. Jupiter 21-2, FHSAA State Title Winner Head Coach Nick O’Hara chimes in with his feelings about ‘a new season’: What are your expectations this season for the team? Our players continue to compete and push each other daily, working hard to establish a unique identity for the 2019 Warriors.  We have a mix of upper and underclassmen with talent and experience, but many players will be taking on a starting role for the 1^st time. We expect our new group of leaders to emerge as the season begins and we look forward to continued growth. Who are the returning players who will make a difference this season? Dylan Frankhouser Sr – F/O – 75%/165GB (Air Force Academy) Devon Rasmus Jr – M – 14G/7A/45GB (Towson University) Trevor Sousa Sr – A/M – 23G/12 A Chris Radice Jr – A – 39G/31A/32GB Kai Stampar Sr – D – 25GB/22CT Hunter Bracci Sr – G – 63% Riley Quinn Sr – G – 64% What players do you expect to step up this year that didn’t get much playing time last year? Miles Jones Jr – M – tall and athletic, solid 2-way Mid (2) Max Sanderson So – A/M – Crafty, high IQ, excellent finisher George Moroncini Jr – D – INJ in 2018, Great speed and strong on GBs What are the games you are really looking forward to this season? Oxbridge and Benjamin are always games that the players and community are excited to play in, but we have also scheduled Bullis, MD and Episcopal School of Dallas.  It will be exciting to see how we measure up with two nationally recognized programs. Benjamin 11-4, lost in the district finals New Head Coach Peter Cordrey wrote this about his squad: What are your expectations this season for the team? We are young, especially on defense.  We expect to get better as the season progresses, hopefully playing our best lacrosse in April. Who are the returning players who will make a difference this season? Goalie Bryce Kendrigan (Towson 2020), F/O Michael Lobosco (USNA 2019), Grant Bretzlaff (Rollins 2019), Trevor Natalie A, Chase Farriss A/M, Blake Chami M What players do you expect to step up this year that didn’t get much playing time last year? Zander Valentini D (2020) was injured last year after outstanding freshman year.  Colin Ryan M (2020) What are the games you are really looking forward to this season? All of them. Dwyer 8-9, lost in the district semifinals We have not received the questionnaire back yet, we’ll add it when we do Jupiter Christian 6-8, lost in the district semifinals We have not received the questionnaire back yet, we’ll add it when we do Palm Beach Gardens 6-10, missed district playoffs Head Coach Josh Arbogast has written this for us: What are your expectations this season for the team?  We just want to have fun and make the most of the season. Who are the returning players who will make a difference this season? Conner Bradford, Michael Hattman, Joey Stark, and the return of Darrius Smalls What players do you expect to step up this year that didn’t get much playing time last year? We’re hoping James Perdomo can come out of his shell and play in games like he did in practice last year. What are the games you are really looking forward to this season? We are just hoping to give our best and make the most of every game.  Our district is extremely top-heavy with perennial state-contenders Jupiter and Benjamin leading the way.  It’s good for the kids to see how they measure up to programs that take the sport seriously to get the results they deserve. Suncoast 0-13, missed district finals 2^nd year HC Neil Brown has sent up his thoughts on the upcoming season: What are your expectations this season for the team? We think we will be much more competitive than last season, since we went 0-13, and we think we will make some noise in our district. We are shooting for a District tourney spot and hoping to disrupt the order of the district a little bit. We have a lot of talented young players, also, so we have added battle tested freshmen talent from some strong travel teams and depth which we desperately needed. These young players should give us the guile we lacked last year, on offense and defense. We added Freshmen Jack Regnery, who has played for Black Lab, FCA South Florida as well as FCA National 2022 team, and he will lead a very young, but potent, Attack.  We had a key loss in our 2-way midfield, Austin Armburster, but we think we will be able to fill what does with a few players. We are very excited for this season and we look forward to seeing our very talented Freshmen class mature. Who are the returning players who will make a difference this season? Senior Shane Friedman GOALIE, 21 saves/gm avg (Committed to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) Sophomore Colton Finley D-POLE- 24GB and 1G/6 SOG Sophomore Charlie Diaz MID – 26GB What players do you expect to step up this year that didn’t get much playing time last year? Sophomore Charlie Diaz MID (Played a lot but we lost our top O-Middie and one of our captains, Austin Armburster, to an ACL injury and we are hoping Charlie rises to the occasion) Junior Jack Everett MID Junior Nick Sharpe MID Junior Will Rider D-POLE Senior Colin Meloy ATT What are the games you are really looking forward to this season? We love playing Cardinal Newman; we have them once at our place and once at theirs. They are our Rivals, so it’s always a fun match-up. Also any game in our district; it’s one of the toughest in the state and we relish the challenge.