PALM BEACH GARDENS – Blink once, and you might miss him.

The football speed and agility is immediately evident when it comes to the play of Xavier Scott. It was on display in last week’s Dwyer-Palm Beach Gardens game (Nov. 7) at Jupiter High School.

On the opening kickoff of the game, the junior speedster sent a message to Palm Beach Gardens by racing past the opposition en route to his 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

With an extra point by kicker Chance Gagnon, Dwyer was up 7-0 at the 11:43 mark.

Fittingly, Scott also put the exclamation point on this game. He did it by taking a handoff from senior quarterback Trevon Taylor and zooming past the Palm Beach Gardens defense for a 19-yard rushing score.

Scott’s game-winner came at the 5:38 mark of the fourth quarter, when Dwyer effectively sealed it by taking a 28-18 lead (with the help of Gagnon’s extra point) that held up at the final buzzer.

With the win, Dwyer improved to 2-0 and rose from No. 3 to No. 2 in our Top 10 team rankings.

“It was a team effort,” Scott told Palm Beach Post reporter Drew McDonald after the game. “We came out and executed on what coach (McKinley Rolle) told us to do. After we scored on the first possession, it changed the game. On the kickoff, I seen a little crease and just took it all the way.”

Taylor provided his analysis on Scott’s performance.

“He is a dog,” Taylor said. “He played great. When we needed a touchdown, we gave it to him and knew he was going to do something with the ball.”

Panthers head coach McKinley offered his insight on how our MVP of Week 2 did against Palm Beach Gardens.

“We always talk about it. Big time players make big time plays in big time games,” Rolle said. “That was huge for us. We pride ourselves on special teams. Xavier made a great play, and our guys who blocked for him did a great job as well.”

Next game for Scott and Dwyer: Today (Nov. 14; 2 p.m. kickoff) against Palm Beach Lakes (0-2) at Jupiter High School

PHOTO CREDITS: Drew McDonald