San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
INJURY DOESN’T COLLAR FOOTBALL SEASON FOR MATER DEI SAFETY
In the first quarter of the first football game of the season against Brawley, Brian Dukes intercepted a pass but didn’t feel right when he was tackled.
It turns out, he suffered a broken collarbone.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound safety hoped the doctor would have some encouraging words, but actually it was the opposite.
“He told me surgery wasn’t needed, but it was a high-risk injury, and if I had the surgery, I’d probably be out three months,” said Dukes, a 17-year-old senior at Mater Dei Catholic. “I chose to have the surgery and hoped to get back by the end of the season.
“The two weeks after the surgery were the toughest. All I could do was sit on the couch. Then the second week I caught COVID-19, and it wasn’t a mild case. It was terrible. I started wondering, ‘What’s next?’ Maybe this wasn’t meant to be.”
Those negative thoughts were quickly brushed aside as he did everything he could, especially from a cardiovascular standpoint, to be ready if/when he got the goahead. He didn’t just sit around feeling sorry for himself.
“He never wavered,” coach John Joyner said. “(Once he was cleared to return to school) he never missed a practice or a game. D.J. Overstreet and Anthony Lopez stepped up at safety, and they did a great job, but he was always there.
“When he played, he was like the centerfielder of our team, his athleticism and intellect is what made him special.”
But weeks turned into months, and Dukes finally went to the doctor for the final determination of how long it would be before he returned — if ever.
“He grabbed my arm and put it over my head and moved it around,” Dukes said. “I had protected my arm, keeping it still, and done nothing like that. No pain. He said it looked good, and I could return.”
He could have played the nextto-the-last game against Hilltop but decided to be careful and return in the finale against Sweetwater. Then the Sweetwater game was canceled due to COVID.
“I really wanted to play because it was Senior Night,” Dukes said. “I was bummed.
“But the next week we had tackling practice, and it turned out OK. I remember thinking, ‘Oh man, I went against dudes who could hit and I’m OK.’ I realized then that I could never take for granted being able to play.”
Joyner said he and the rest of the team watched carefully as he played in the first section playoff game against El Capitan and immediately was in on a tackle.
“We were all just holding our breath,” Joyner said.
Dukes went on to return a fumble for one touchdown and an interception for another.
“The first play of the El Capitan game, I put my shoulder into the quarterback,” Dukes said. “That got my adrenaline going, and it felt awesome. I can’t describe how it felt but when I got a pick-6 on the interception, I knew then I was back in instinct mode, putting the injury behind me.”
Dukes said that the 24-21 win over section power Helix in the Southern California Division 2-AA championship was big — bigger even than beating Modesto Central Catholic 34-25 for the state title.
“We had more to prove when we got to play Helix,” Dukes said. “They were the Division I section champions and had such a great tradition. We were kind of being doubted, and they trash talked a little, but we were able to grind out that win.”
Although Dukes said the win over Central Catholic wasn’t as dramatic, he himself was one of the reasons.
“They had scored, and then they stopped us, so they had the momentum,” said Dukes, who knew exactly what Central Catholic was going to do when they got the ball back and stepped in for the interception that led to the clinching score by Nico Mosley.
“Afterward I remember thinking, ‘This is crazy. We are going to be immortal.’ I remember as a freshman looking at the Mater Dei Catholic Hall of Fame and there were pictures of the 2015 state championship team with C.J. Verdell.
“I remember thinking that I wanted to be on that board, and now we will be. No one can take that away from us.”
Dukes could celebrate being with the team the entire post-season but very soon he knew he and quarterback Dominic Nankil, among others, would be joining the basketball team that won the Socal Division 2-AA title last spring.
After running track in the spring, he’ll get ready to play football at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where he plans to sign in February, majoring in computer science, biology or engineering.
“It all worked out in the end,” said Dukes, who certainly had his doubts.