Fordson v. Dearborn High: Let the Rivalry Begin!

Every sports team knows which will be the easy wins, what teams are their greatest challengers, and who their biggest rivals are. The University of Michigan has Ohio State. The Detroit Red Wings have the Colorado Avalanche.

And and football teams have each other.

On Friday, those two go head-to-head for another big night of high school football in Dearborn.

The teams are relatively evenly matched, though the Pioneers currently sport a better record (4-0) than Fordson (2-2).

But in Fordson’s corner, the team has enjoyed a relatively large spotlight–from , Fordson: Faith, Fasting, Football, to the media attention on their Muslim players, all of whom were fasting during Ramadan, which spanned much of the team’s practices, as well as their first game of this season.

Still, each team had lots to say about arguably the biggest game of their season–pending a state championship run.

"We got a big game with Fordson coming up and practice makes perfect,” said DHS senior and football player Keshawn Walker. “We practice how we play, and we’re going to practice hard.”

DHS linebacker Toufic Sareini, who had 58 tackles in 2010 and hopes to make the All-State list this year, even said earlier this month that in mental preparation for the rival game, none of the team was planning to watch the Fordson film.

“We try to take it as a regular game,” Sareini said of the rivalry match-up. “But it’s just pride and a lot that goes with it.

“Bragging rights, basically.”

Dearborn High head coach Dave Mifsud said that although he recognizes the community excitement surrounding the game, his team tries to treat it as “just another game for us.”

“We do the same things every week,” he added, “and we just try to get better and better at it.”

Fordson head coach Fuad Zaban agreed.

"Ultimately our biggest rival will be Dearborn High,” he said, “but it’s part of the whole schedule. We’ve got to take one game at a time.”

Join Dearborn Patch at the rivalry game tonight, held at 7 p.m. at Dearborn High–but be sure to get there early, because parking will fill up quickly. Or, to follow the game from home, look for our live updates on the game–including, scores, game shots and fan photos–via Twitter and Facebook.