Tucson High tackle football rebounded from last week’s loss at Salpointe to beat Walden Grove in a shootout on Thursday night.
The Badgers (2-1) beat the Red Wolves (1-2) in a battle of 2025 playoff teams, 35-31.
After a back-and-forth game, especially in the third quarter, the Badgers stopped Walden Grove on Fourth and 4 with about a minute to go deep in their own territory.
“That’s a really good football team over there, Walden Grove, they came to really play,” said Tucson High head coach Zach Neveleff. “Second half they did an amazing job and we couldn’t get a stop (Thursday night) and it took us right to the fourth quarter and the way the game was going we needed our defense to make a play, bend don’t break, right? Like right at the end, we needed to play, big fourth quarter stand on fourth down.”
The Badgers jumped ahead 35-28 in the third quarter and held on to win.
“It was great,” said Tucson High junior athlete Ezra Spivey. “They said that we were going to go 1-9, we’re 2-1 right now. It feels great. We all came together at the end and it’s just doing the things that we love.”
Both the Badgers and Red Wolves opened the season the season with a win but lost last week, Tucson High fell 45-20 to 6A Salpointe on the road. It was 10-7 at the half.
“You play a big Salpointe team, you get beat up a little bit, some egos go and then you got turned right away, you got Rosh Hashanah, you’re playing on a short week and then you don’t have a normal week because we’re off on Monday anyway,” Neveleff said. “So the kids are all over the place with it, but we had to raise our level of focus, raise our level of discipline.
“We’re still pretty banged up, I had a few guys not play (Thursday) and had we had that extra day, I think they could have gone, but it was it was tough.”
After the Badgers fumbled on their first drive, Walden Grove junior quarterback/cornerback/receiver Nicholas Martinez ran for a 15-yard touchdown as the signal caller.
Tucson High responded with a 33-yard touchdown catch by Spivey.
“It was good, I was excited, I knew I had to step up on the offense,” Spivey said. “I know I had to step up on the defense too, I’m the captain, I got to do what I got to do.”
Then the Badgers took a 14-7 lead off a 20-yard touchdown grab by Spivey. As a punter, he ran for a first down on that drive.
He also ran for a first down on fake punt against Salpointe.
“Oh man, Ezra is baller, right?” Neveleff said. “He’s a beast on defense, he’s really, really good, but offensively, he can impact the game just as well.”
After Walden Grove senior linebacker/tight end Paul Delgado got an interception, Martinez ran for another score. Before halftime Delgado caught a 25-yard touchdown pass as well.
Spivey also caught a 24-yard touchdown in the first half.
“The game has slowed down so much for him, you see him on offense, everything’s effortlessly and his knack and ability to go attack the ball in the air in second to none,” Neveleff said. “I’ve coached a lot of great players, he’s up there with the best of them when it goes to attacking the football. Like he can go up and get the football, he’s running by people.
“Usually those are pass interferences. He’s finding a way to get back into the play and get home; under thrown balls, coming back to it, overthrown ball, he’s judging it well. He’s calling his number on time. We get him singled up we like our chances, if he’s in other sets, sometimes he’s a decoy. So, he does very, very good job of what he does, he’s an exceptional route runner and his football IQ is better than everyone, really when it comes down to it, he challenges coaches. That’s what you love in a player. someone who has a football IQ and is just ready to compete and that’s what Ezra does, Ezra just wants to compete.”
The Badgers capitalized on a wild start to the second half to get the lead and held on. Tucson High opened the third quarter with an onside kick that WG recovered.
Red Wolves senior tight end/defensive end Nick Roberts scored on the ensuing drive but got penalized for spinning the ball on the ground and with a short field Badgers junior running back/defensive back/linebacker Tavion Wells returned the kick off for a touchdown.
Then on the next kickoff, Tucson High senior kicker Waleed Al Jashami tucked the kick in between the Walden Grove return team and the Badgers recovered it.
On that drive, Tucson senior receiver/linebacker Isaac Fierros caught the game winning 5-yard touchdown pass.
Spivey was excited to see his teammates shine in the second half.
“That was great, I love when my teammates dominate,” Spivey said. “Honestly, I don’t care about me, I want my teammates to win more.”
Walden Grove managed only a field goal as the Badgers held on to win.
Up next for Walden Grove is Casa Grande Vista Grande at home on Sept. 18. The Spartans are 3-0 after opening the season with a 10-7 win at Sunnyside and getting a forfeit in this week’s game against Maricopa Desert Sunrise.
Tucson High opens 5A Sonoran play with Buena at home. New head coach Chris Determan had the Colts off to a 2-0 start after going 144-85-1 and reaching the 2A title games in 2015 and 2020 at Benson.
“I don’t know much about that coach, but I know he has over 100 wins and that is very, very tough to do, I know a few people with that,” Neveleff said on Thursday night. “I got to coach under Dennis Bene and I remember being there for his 100th win, so to get 100 wins as a head football coach it’s very hard to do, that means you have a lot of longevity in this.
“So I appreciate their coach and what they’re doing, I haven’t seen any film yet, I gotta figure out how to get out there, watch a game. But really good football team out there, I like Buena a lot.”
Neveleff played and coached under former Bene, a former Salpointe coach who is in the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame.
SHORT READS
— Spivey and Dobson won the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl and National Football Foundation Southern Arizona Chapter player of the game awards.
— Walden Grove senior quarterback Matt Avelar served as captain for the Red Wolves. The Idaho commit is set to be eligible for the Red Wolves’ Oct. 2 4A Kino opener against Sahuaro after transferring from Salpointe.
Avelar was honorable mention All-6A Central as a sophomore.
— Tucson High’s football program dates back to 1906 according to azfootballarchives.com, while Walden Grove’s varsity team dates back to 2012.
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