Friday, May 10, 2013

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

After a broken fibula ended his senior football season and cost him a shot at 1,000 career points in hoops, River Dell senior Tim Barnes is back closing basbeall games for the Hawks.

ORADELL – Tim Barnes and Ryan Duran were going to run the gauntlet together. The River Dell teammates and three-sport standouts had hopes of leading the Golden Hawks to the state football championship that they had just barely missed as juniors, then lead the hoops team to the county and state tournaments and then finish off their careers as two of the Oradell school's most decorated athletes with success on the baseball diamond.

Barnes' plans were put on hold first. In the third quarter of the second football game of the season against Mahwah back on September 14, Barnes, the starting quarterback, ran into the right side of the line then tried to cut it back to the left when 'it' happened.

'I just felt like five pops in my left ankle and I knew right away that it was not good,” said Barnes. “I pretty much knew right away. I had to be helped off the field, my ankle looked like a watermelon when they took my shoe off and the doctor told me I needed surgery.”

The next man up behind center was Duran, who finished off the win over Mahwah and then led River Dell to six more wins in a row heading into the final game of a perfect regular season against Fort Lee on November 9.

“I just remember making a cut and falling to the ground. I didn't feel a pop and I thought I just sprained my knee,” said Duran, who soon found out the bad news. “I didn't think it was that bad, but then I found out that it was a torn ACL.”

The football team would go on to the North 1, Group 3 state sectional semifinals, but it did so without the services of Barnes and Duran, who were left to wonder if it was not just their senior football seasons that were over, but also their high school sports careers.

A torn ACL cut short Ryan Duran's football season and kept him off the basketball floor, but he will likely take the ball to start the Bergen County Baseball Tournament opener on Friday.

Both missed the entire basketball season while rehabbing. For Duran, it meant that the hoops team would be without its hard-nosed senior captain. For Barnes, it meant he would not get the chance to pass the 1,000 career point milestone, which was well within his reach.

Barnes, who will play football at Georgetown University next season, and Duran, who will play baseball at The College of New Jersey, could have decided to rest up for the next level and avoid further injury. Neither gave it a second thought and turned their attention to their senior baseball seasons. Barnes was ready to go when the preseason started, while Duran would have to continue his rehab straight through Opening Day and beyond.

“When Timmy got hurt they laid out a schedule for him and I knew he would be cleared around March 1. He was here and working, but it took his a little while to get back in the flow. With Ryan, we planned on not having him and then were was a chance that maybe we would get him back for a couple of starts, maybe a start in the county tournament or state tournament,” said River Dell baseball coach Brandon Flanagan. “The kid just kept working so hard and gets cleared after the 10th game. Then, in his first game back, he almost beat Mahwah. He gave up four hits in six innings, one earned run and struck out 10 guys. We said, 'Welcome back.”

With both back healthy now, River Dell baseball is in a good spot. The Hawks are 15-4, Duran is the legitimate No. 1 starter who will likely get the ball against Fair Lawn in the twice-delayed opening round of the Bergen County Baseball Tournament on Friday and, if needed, Barnes will be there to close out the win in his role at the back of the bullpen.

“First off, I am just happy for them because they are good people. They missed so much of football and basketball that it is just good to see them back and doing something they love. They deserve it with the work they have put in to get back,” said Flanagan.”Then you look at the leadership aspect. These kids are leaders on the field, off the field, they are role models. And from a talent standpoint, these are two of the best athletes in Bergen County, that's the bottom line and as a coach it was great to see them work their way back and earn their places back on the team. Nothing was given to either of them, they did the work.”

Now there is no looking back and no excuses. Ryan Duran is healthy. Tim Barnes is healthy and there are still a few of weeks left in their senior years to make it memorable for more than just successful rehabilitation session after disappointing injuries.

“It's very exciting to be in this position. We are the No. 10 seed in the county tournament and hopefully we can get past Fair Lawn, get into the Round of 16 and get a shot at Park Ridge,” said Barnes. “For me, I am just playing every game like it could be my last because, with the injury and everything else I have been through, I know it really could be.”

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