Dwyer Outlasts Royal Palm Beach

     It was the highly anticipated matchup between the frontrunners in District 13-7A as the Dwyer Panthers defeated the Royal Palm Beach Wildcats 47-24 on Thursday night at Blum Stadium. Dwyer, the defending FHSAA Class 7A champions, now holds first place in what may be the most competitive district from top to bottom in South Florida high school football this year.
     Royal Palm Beach(4-1, 2-1) marched down the field and scored on their first possession as tight end Marlon Eugene caught a ten-yard pass up the middle from quarterback Toddy Centeio at 6:53 of the first quarter for a seven-point lead.
     Dwyer(5-1, 3-0) responded as it took three plays on their first drive to tie the game at 5:59. Wide receiver Dante Cousart made a reception on the left sideline, ran past two defenders and scored from 57 yards away.
     At the start of the second quarter, the Wildcats tried a fake field goal deep in Panthers territory and were stopped at the five-yard line. Dwyer struck fast on the next play as quarterback Daniel Parr threw a ball over the secondary which was caught by wide receiver Isaiah Johnson at midfield. He pulled away and scored a 95-yard touchdown to give them a 13-7 lead at 11:35.
     Devin Wallace cut the margin down for Royal Palm Beach to 13-10 as he kicked a 43-yard field goal at 7:22. They were able to regain the lead 17-13 with 1:31 left in the second as Centeio connected with wide receiver Derick Python on the right sideline for a 15-yard touchdown.
     Both teams combined for 27 points in the third quarter. The first possession in the second half for the Panthers was successful as running back Cornelius Smith capped it with a five-yard run through the left side to make it 20-17 at 8:58. After Wildcats running back Demarcus Holloway fumbled, Parr ended the next drive as he went around the left end to score from five yards out at 5:23 to give Dwyer a 26-17 margin.
     Royal Palm Beach stayed in the game with 3:52 left as running back Shamar Jackson rushed down the left sideline and scored on a 48-yard touchdown run to cut the gap to two points at 26-24.
     The momentum disappeared on the first play of the Panthers next drive when Smith ran for 64 yards to the Royal Palm Beach five-yard line. Parr scored on the next play with a run through the right side and made it 33-24 with 3:27 to go in the third.
     The fourth quarter belonged to Dwyer when they scored a touchdown on their first play. Cousart received a six-yard pass from Parr in the top right corner of the end zone at 11:51. The Wildcats fumbled on the ensuing kickoff. The Panthers capitalized as wide receiver Tavares Martin made it 40-24 on a 15-yard catch with 11:00 remaining in the game.