By Daniel Gretzner
Everyone is enjoying the summer months at the moment. High school activity in the sports world is quite limited. However, special interest about the coming football season at Fordson is in the air.
Athletes, students, faculty, fans and followers of the “Tractor Nation” are wondering if another quality team can add to the rich football history. So, the question is, what will Fordson do on the football field in 2011?
I interviewed Tractor head coach Fouad Zaban, also known as “Coach Walker” around the east Dearborn Ford Road campus.
“If we work together as a committed team, we will compete on a high level,” he said. “I expect good things from our team this fall.”
Zaban played for the Blue & Gold varsity and graduated in 1988. He joined the Tractor coaching staff as an
assistant in 1993 and has been head coach since 2006.
Fordson gridders were in Wyandotte a few weeks ago, participating in a 7-on-7 scrimmage. Grosse Ile, Ecorse and Wyandotte were the other competing squads.
“Scrimmage work with other nearby teams allows the kids to get learning experience and is part of the teaching tools needed to work on passing schemes and such.”
The team makeup for the coming season is far from complete, and it will take time to determine what each individual player’s role will be.
In the meantime, summer workouts in the weight room are taking place. The freshman, junior varsity, linemen and backs all meet at different times.
Zaban has a number of seniors returning this year, and that should help considerably if Fordson is going to make a run at the Western Wayne Athletic Conference championship. City rival Dearborn High School is the defending champ. Edsel Ford also is a member of the league. This gives the Dearborn prep teams a 1-2-3 punch as they compete against each other and other league rivals.
Last year, the Tractors went 7-2 in the regular season, good enough to claim second place, behind Dearborn High, in the WWAC. The new season will be here before you know it, and you can count on any of the three Dearborn public high schools to challenge for the title and the right to make the state playoffs. Like many of our readers, I plan on attending key games as they come up during the coming fall schedule.
Former Fordson varsity players of recent years, are on the football rosters of state college teams. Baquer Sayed is a red-shirt freshman wide receiver at University of Michigan. Ali Alboody plays at Bowling Green in the Mid-American Conference.
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