No. 1 player Corley developed talent, delivered title
The Detroit News concludes its countdown of the top 15 Blue Chip recruits for 2016 with Donnie Corley of Detroit King at No. 1.
A high school football season usually lasts three or four months, but it lasted much longer for Donnie Corley of Detroit King.
It started with Corley participating in The Opening – an elite, invitation-only recruiting camp – in early July in Oregon and ending at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in January in San Antonio, where he announced he was going to play at Michigan State.
Corley accomplished a lot in between, living up to his billing as The Detroit News’ No. 1 player in the state.
The 6-3, 190-pound Corley was a dominant force at receiver and cornerback. He helped the Crusaders earn the Division 2 state championship, grabbing a 39-yard TD pass from Armani Posey on the game’s final play in a dramatic 40-38 victory over Lowell at Ford Field.
Corley finished with 59 receptions for 1,403 yards and 16 TD, also getting in on 80 tackles while grabbing 10 interceptions.
After participating in the U.S. Army game, Corley enrolled early at MSU so he can compete in spring practice and hopefully get on the field when the Spartans open the 2016 season.
“They were losing wide receivers so I felt I could get a jump on things so I’d be ready to play that position,” Corley said.
Corley said prior to his senior season he wanted to finish his prep career by winning a state championship. He came up short with King his junior year when the Crusaders lost to Southfield, 40-12, in the opening round of the state playoffs.
But King then landed a number of talented transfers, including cornerback / receiver Lavert Hill from Cass Tech, running back Martell Pettaway from St. Clair Shores South Lake, Posey from Detroit East English and linebacker Lawrence Bryant from Grosse Pointe North.
“I accomplished all my goals, and to overcome adversity throughout a season is amazing,” Corley said.
Corley had an outstanding junior season (62 receptions, 1,100 yards, 16 TD), but then King quarterback Mikale Washington transferred out of state.
Washington was replaced by sophomore El Julian Jordan, who was then suspended in Week 3, and Posey took over as the starter and held the job the rest of the season, leading the Crusaders to PSL and state titles at Ford Field.
Corley got banged up at times, too, jamming his neck while landing awkwardly out of bounds in the regional championship game against Detroit East English. He jogged gingerly to the sidelines, sitting out for a few plays before returning for the rest of the game.
King went on to defeat East English 26-12, then dominated Livonia Franklin 40-6 in a state semifinal.
The Crusaders couldn’t have faced more adversity than they did in the title game, trailing Lowell 31-13 in the third quarter before Corley hauled in a 25-yard TD pass from Posey to start the comeback.
Still, it was Corley’s grab on the final play that fans will be talking about for years.
“It was amazing, that catch, but I couldn’t have done it without those extra plays and that’s why it was such a great team win,” said Corley of King’s winning 97-yard drive, which included a 25-yard pass to Dontre Boyd to the Lowell 39 with 10 seconds left, setting up Corley’s heroic catch. “It was a great call, great throw and I just went up and grabbed it.”
As big as the game-winning TD was in the title game, King coach Dale Harvel is more impressed with Corley’s ability to build up his body to get things done on defense.
“Donnie’s a disciplined kid and he worked hard in the weight room, put on 15-20 pounds of muscle during the offseason, and it paid off for him on defense,” said Harvel. “He was more aggressive on defense, a better tackler, and it showed when he got into the box to stop the run.
“Donnie was knocking people down, playing much more physical to where we experimented, working him in a free safety in some games, cornerback in others.”
Ultimately, Corley’s ability to play multiple positions was one of the reasons he chose the Spartans, saying during his announcement at the Army All-American Bowl, “Coach Dantonio told me that I’ll be able to play both ways.”
Now, MSU fans can’t wait to see him on the field.
DETROIT NEWS BLUE CHIP COUNTDOWN
No. 1 Donnie Corley, Detroit King (Michigan State)
No. 2 Khalid Kareem, Farmington Hills Harrison (Notre Dame)
No. 3 Lavert Hill, Detroit King (undecided)
No. 4 Daelin Hayes, Ann Arbor Skyline (Notre Dame)
No. 5 Michael Onwenu, Detroit Cass Tech (Michigan)
No. 6 Desmond Fitzpatrick, Waterford Mott (undecided)
No. 7 Demetric Vance, Detroit Cass Tech (Michigan State)
No. 8 Michael Jordan, Plymouth (Ohio State)
No. 9 Cedrick Lattimore, Detroit East English (Iowa)
No. 10 Trishton Jackson, West Bloomfield (Michigan State)
No. 11 David Reese, Farmington (Florida)
No. 12 Brandon Randle, Battle Creek Central (Michigan State)
No. 13 Josh Jackson, Saline (Virginia Tech)
No. 14 Martell Pettaway, Detroit King (West Virginia)
No. 15 Brad Tanner, Romeo (Western Michigan)
