MONTEGO BAY, St James — Nineteen schools, led by defending champions Rusea’s High and Ben Francis KO finalists St Elizabeth Technical High (STETHS), will go in search of a place in the quarter-finals of the ISSA/ Gatorade/Digicel daCosta Cup schoolboy football competition as the Inter-zone round ends today.

Sixteen games are down for competition across all eight zones as Brimmervale High, one of two third-placed teams who got ‘wild card’ berths, are also in with a shot at making it to the quarter-finals that will start next Wednesday after a break on Saturday for the playing of the Ben Francis KO final.

Meanwhile, four schools which have won both of their previous matches — Spot Valley, STETHS, Cedric Titus, and Port Antonio — need only a point to advance, but all except STETHS will face teams still in contention.

Spot Valley will travel to Frome Sports Complex to Face Frome Technical, who are on four points and a win would see them through.

The Preston Bernard-coached Spot Valley have defied the odds so far and have yet to concede a goal in the last two games, including a 2-0 demolition of Ben Francis KO finalists Grange Hill at Jarrett Park on Friday.

STETHS should get the better of Bellefield High at St Elizabeth Technical Sports Complex, while Cedric Titus will hope to be able to hold Brimmervale at bay at Drax Hall.

Brimmervale are coming off a hard-fought 3-2 win over St Mary High in a rescheduled game on Monday to revive their hopes, moving to four points, two behind the Trelawny-based school.

Port Antonio High are coming off a big 7-1 mauling of York Castle, but will face a Bog Walk team that is yet to concede a goal.

Rusea’s looked dead and buried after being beaten 3-0 by Manning’s last week, but bounced back with a 2-1 win over William Knibb on Saturday, while Cornwall and Mannings’ played out a 0-0 draw.

On paper, Manning’s — who will face William Knibb in the first game of a Jarrett Park double-header — have the edge as the Trelawny school has nothing to play for after consecutive losses.

Anything but a big win for Manning’s would set up a potentially explosive clash as the champions would then be forced to press for a win against Cornwall College, who would advance with just a draw.

Three schools are in contention in Zone Four where Munro College leads Manchester High on goal difference, with both on four points and Clarendon College next on three.

Manchester High, who drew 0-0 with Munro on Saturday, will face out-of-contention Christiana in a 1:00 pm start at Kirkvine, while Munro

face Clarendon at Brancourt at 3:00 pm.

Garvey Maceo and underdogs Tacius Golding, both on four points in Zone Seven, will meet at Jamalco at 3:00 pm, while in Zone Eight, Dinthill Technical and Glenmuir will both be seeking to score as many goals as possible against Seaforth High and Kemps Hill, respectively, as both are locked on four points and have a similar goal difference of two goals.