High school football: Prolific brothers split ways on rival Tucson teams

Traditional rivals, Salpointe Catholic and Tucson High are sharing a couple of Southern Arizona football’s most prolific brothers.

Senior strong safety/athlete Nathan Spivey has helped lead Salpointe to a No. 11 ranking in Class 6A and freshman safety/athlete Ezra Spivey Tucson High to No. 5 in 5A.

“He comes from a great family, they both do, like their dad and their mom, they’re a great people, they’ve done a tremendous job” said Tucson High head coach Zachary Neveleff.

Last season, Nathan made the All-6A Central team three times, first team as a defensive back and a punt returner and second team as a receiver. Last year, he had 44 catches for 450 yards, 68 tackles and seven interceptions.

“Spivey does everything for us,” said Salpointe head coach Pat Ryden. “He’s a special player and he needs an opportunity at the next level.”

This year, Nathan is first in the region for punt returns with an average of 26.8, second in the region in kickoff returns with an average of 36.7 and second in total return yardage with 381. He’s also third in the region in scoring with 62 points, third in touchdowns with 10, third in interceptions with two and eighth in the region in rushing with 323 yards.

“Last year with the picks, it was good, but this year, it’s kind of slowed down,” Nathan said. “I still do my stuff, but tackling has improved and offensively it has improved, so I can say that my season’s going as good as least year.”

Meanwhile, Ezra is first in 5A in interceptions with seven, which is also tied for seventh in the state.

“Oh, it has been really good, bless, I’m blessed,” Ezra said about his first high school season.

Neveleff, who coached at Salpointe after playing there, coached players like Bijan Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons. He compared Ezra to Salpointe alumnus and Ohio State star Lathan Ransom.

“Ezra is a leader, I think he’s he brings a lot of energy to our defense and just cause he’s a freshman doesn’t have anything to do with how he plays,” Neveleff said. “He plays a lot older than what he is, he plays a physical brand of football and I’m just looking forward to having multiple off seasons with him in the weight room.

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“I think the ceiling is so high for him, he reminds me a lot of Lathan, I got to coach Lathan at Salpointe and I swear he’s spitting image of him at that point right now,” he added. “He makes tremendous plays and, you know, he’ll be going both ways for us, probably next year and a few years after that but he’s a stud. He’s gonna turn heads here pretty quickly if he hasn’t already.”

Ezra said he chose Tucson High over Salpointe because he wanted to make a name at THS.

“Ezra decided he wanted to do his own thing and he wanted to be his own man and write his own story,” Neveleff said. “It’s really easy to go to Salpointe and go to an established program and fall in line and be the guy, but playing as a freshman meant a lot for Ezra, and he knew he would be able to play here as a freshman on varsity and he’s gonna have a great four-year career here and, kudos to him, he gambled on himself and it’s paying off.

“He’s a tremendous talent, and he’s an even better kid, you know, he knows the game of football very well and he’s not your average freshman,” he added.

Nathan said so far he has a couple Division II scholarship offers but so far no Division Is.

Ryden said the lack of Division I offers surprised him.

“Absolutely, absolutely, but somebody’s gonna take him and somebody’s gonna get a great player,” Ryden said.

Where ever he goes, Nathan hopes his brother does better.

“Oh, he’s playing amazing,” Nathan said. “And as the older brother I love seeing that from my younger brother because I always want him to do better than I was.”

The younger Spivey is also excited about his sibling’s success.

“It’s really good and I’m proud of him,” Ezra said. “It’s his senior year, his last year. I’ve been watching him grow since he was a little kid, I love it.”