With their victory over Detroit Cody last week, the Dearborn Fordson football team has done something that the program hasn’t done since 2003. They’ve made it to the third round of the playoffs.

The Dearborn Fordson football team will have to play with as much intensity and focus as they did earlier in the year against Dearborn High School in order to beat Detroit Southeastern on Friday at 7 p.m. in the third round of the state playoffs. PHOTO: Nick Meyer/TAAN

But to avoid a repeat of that year, when they lost to Mt. Clemens Chippewa Valley, the 11-0 Tractors will need to play much better this week against 10-1 Detroit Southeastern.

The Jungaleers just beat a Detroit Cass Tech team that has two players committed to the University of Michigan in Thomas Gordon and Teric Jones as well as a third in William Campbell who is being courted by many of the top college football teams in the country. And Southeastern didn’t just beat Cass Tech, they destroyed them by a score of 48-0.

Last week, the Tractors played one of their worst games of the season against Cody, getting badly out-gained in yardage, but still managed to come away with a 16-6 victory.

Fordson head coach Fouad Zaban talked about what might be the toughest challenge his team has faced all season against Southeastern on Friday at 7 p.m. at Fordson High School.

“(We need) to play a great game,” he said. “They are big and fast, they run the spread offense, and they are well-coached. We just need to execute in all phases of the game.”The Tractors run some elements of the spread offense at times as well, however, and under Zaban, they are more equipped than they’ve ever been to defend against it.

While the offense gets most of the credit because of star running backs Ali Alaboody and Hassan Amen, the defense has been just as strong if not stronger for most of the season. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that both players also play defense, either. The Tractors have only given up 20 or more points three times on the season. On the other hand, the Jungaleers have scored 30 or more points seven times this season, so Fordson will need to play well on defense to hold down their high-scoring spread offense.

Zaban expects the home field advantage to be a positive factor for his team this week.

“The fans have been great,” he said. “We need them to continue to make this a great atmosphere for our kids and we need their positive energy.”Fordson will also need some of their less-heralded players to step up and have big games to support the stars.

Zaban said possible candidates include third-string (but still talented) running back Abe Mroue, who’s run very well this year despite limited carries, and safety Justin Diggs, who had the biggest play of last week’s game with a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown against Cody.

While it can be tough to stay focused as the players start daydreaming about a trip to Ford Field for the state championship game, which is just two wins away, Zaban doesn’t sense that his team will encounter any problems going into this week’s game.

“As a coaching staff, we’ve definitely stressed the importance of being focused and taking it one game at a time,” he said. “So far, I feel that the kids have done a decent job of that.”