Florida corner eyes west

It is always tough to get a player from Florida to leave his southern roots and make the trek west to play in the Pac 10. It has been done, but that is the exception rather than the rule. Still when a player the caliber of cornerback Xavier Brewer (5-11, 180, 4.4) from Jacksonville (Fla.) Bartram Trail say there is interest you have to throw your name in the hat.

"Xavier has an older brother on the practice squad with the San Francisco 49ers so there is willingness for him to research schools out west," Bartram Trail coach Darrell Sutherland said. "The two schools that have Xavier's interest out west are UCLA and USC.

"Both schools are in the mix with his top schools," Sutherland said. "He has approximately 20 official offers and he's beginning to narrow things down because he wants to make a decision before the season.

At this point, it is not clear if he will get out to California, but the word is there is a pretty good chance.

On the football field Brewer is a playmaker.

"Xavier is a very exciting player," Sutherland said. "We play him primarily at corner but we also use him on the offensive side of the ball, too.

"Xavier is also an excellent kick returner who averages over 30 yards per return," Sutherland said. "We would use him to return punts, too, but he's very good at blocking punts so we use him in that capacity.

For his career, he has blocked approximately eight blocked punts.

The scouting report on Brew is he's the complete corner who is excellent in coverage and very physical in run support. He's not afraid to come up and hit you. He's an explosive and fast.

From his cornerback position he had 73 tackles and six interceptions.