Fowler star Corona pushes through injuries

One big punt return removes any doubt the Redcats star is back.

Published online on Friday, Oct. 02, 2009

FOWLER - Kenny Corona never had doubt because he gave himself so many reasons not to.

In baseball, in the spring of 2007 at Fowler High, he set a Central Section freshman-class record for hits (56) at the varsity level.

In football, later that fall as a sophomore, he tied for the state lead in interceptions (12).

He was named All-State Underclassman in both sports.

Simply, a good thing coming had become better.

"He was always a special kid, Redcats baseball coach Bill Feaver says, "a kid we were waiting on, a kid who we watched in junior high and said, 'OK, he won't step foot on the JV field; he'll be coming straight to us.' "

Then sport turned cruel. And not once, but twice.

April 9, 2008: A broken wrist in baseball.

Oct 17, 2008: A torn anterior cruciate in football.

Suddenly, history, statistics and awards didn't matter.

"I felt I had to do it all over again," he says, "or do it better."

While he played a little baseball in the summer, the real comeback would begin with a punt return -- the first time he touched the ball in football this season -- at home in an opener against Firebaugh.

Doubt that had never existed was, in fact, reality.

"I was a little nervous," he says, not totally trusting the surgically repaired ACL, which controls lateral movement of the knee. "I knew my first play would dictate how I would play the rest of the game and the season."

Corona caught the ball at his own 30-yard line, angled left, received a pancake block from Tanner Davies, neared the Fowler sideline, turned upfield, ran 20 yards, cut right to avoid a defender, cut right a second time to escape another, and then dashed into the end zone.

This was more than a 70-yard touchdown.

This was belief.

"It was huge," says Corona, who would score four more times (three receiving, one rushing) to power a 61-7 win. "I had doubt that I wouldn't come back as strong as I used to play. But the butterflies went away and it was back to how I was used to playing."

Setback, Part I

Corona had long circled this baseball game on his calendar: April 9, 2008, vs. Buhach Colony-Atwater, and at Chukchansi Park, no less.

Fowler was top-ranked in the state's D-V; Sac-Joaquin Section D-I power Buhach Colony was No. 16 in the state overall.

Corona, hitting .452 as a sophomore and playing shortstop, broke his wrist when he attempted to take a throw at second base on a steal attempt.

"The throw was off-line a little bit," he says. "I reached out to grab it, and I guess I caught [the runner's] knee instead of the ball.

"I felt a pop, rolled over and looked at my [left] arm."

Nasty.

"The wrist had dropped about 3 inches."

Buhach Colony would win 4-2, but Corona returned in four weeks and helped the Redcats win their second straight section D-V title.

Setback, Part II

This was another point-to game for Corona, only in football: Oct. 17, 2008, at home against rival Parlier.

Quarterback/cornerback Corona and the Redcats, at 4-1, were rolling again after going 12-1 in 2007.

In the second half, Parlier ran a sweep right, to Corona's side.

"They had been hitting our guys in the ankles, so I ran up to take out all my frustration and I slipped on the wet grass. I'm falling one way, I get hit the other way and I felt my [right] knee snap. It was the worst pain I've ever felt, and then it all went numb."

The numbness returned to Corona's entire body when he was told a month later following an MRI the ACL had ruptured, surgery was required and his athletic clock would be stopped for a year -- maybe more.