Santaluces Ends Jupiter's Perfect Start in a Four-Overtime District Thriller, 34-31

Five wins and no losses. More than 170 points scored. A defense that hadn't given up more than 12 in any game.

That was the Jupiter Warriors' record entering Friday night's district home game against the Santaluces Chiefs, and for most of regulation it looked like it would stay that way.It didn't.

Santaluces, which came in at 3-2 but had been building momentum through district play, refused to quit in one of the most dramatic games yet this fall on the Palm Beach County football schedule. The final score was Santaluces 34, Jupiter 31 — but the game didn't end in regulation, or in one overtime, or two.

It took four to decide it. The loss is the Warriors' first of the season and drops them to 5-1. It also ends what had become an impressive district streak — Jupiter had won 20 consecutive regular-season games — and introduces a measure of urgency into a schedule that had felt comfortable.

For a team that had been so dominant, the result stings. Through five games, Jupiter was averaging more than 34 points per game and allowing barely eight. The Santaluces loss is the most points the defense has surrendered all year.

Head coach Josh Brooks, in his first season leading the program, now turns his attention to two games that will define Jupiter's district standing. This Friday, October 9, the Warriors host Lake Worth at Velocity Community Credit Union Stadium at 7 PM. The bigger picture date still sits on October 16, when Jupiter faces Palm Beach Central in what shapes up as the de facto district title game — a team Jupiter beat for the first time in 10 years last season.

Friday's loss was a setback. Whether it's a turning point in either direction depends on what happens next.