Liberty head coach Dwight Hale wasn’t surprised by Clay Shetler’s performance Friday night against Denver East.

Shetler, a junior outside linebacker, finished the game with a game-high 10 tackles, two pick sixes, a fumble caused and fumble recovered in the Lancers’ 28-25 win on the road.

“What we saw Friday night, he does that every day in practice,” Hale, a first-year coach at Liberty, said. “We talk with our guys about playing like you practice and Clay is a prime example of doing that.”

It was the Lancers’ first win of the season, making the two pick sixes extra sweet for this week’s Gazette Preps Peak Performer.

Having hurt his wrist in practice earlier that week, Shetler said he wasn’t sure he would catch the first one, but acted on instinct.

“The first one I definitely blanked out a bit and you’re just in the end zone with everyone,” Shetler said. “We prepared a lot for this so it was good to get a win up there.”

Shetler said this season has seen lots of change between adapting to a new coach and moving from middle to outside linebacker. However, the culture change that Hale brought has spurred positive growth.

“It’s been a lot more consistent work, no days off, intensity always has to be at the same level, we can’t dip or that just translates to games,” Shetler said. “We know we have the talent to do it, we just can’t beat ourselves.”

Hale says defense is the foundation of the team, and that Shetler has been a large part of that as a leader for the unit.

“He’s just buying into the culture of who we are,” Hale said. “The defense has bought into wanting to build a strong foundation on our defense and he is a key component in that. The exciting thing is we get him for another year, so the defense could be special here.”

Shetler has played football for as long as he could remember, and dreams of playing college football one day.

“I love hitting and proving you’re better than somebody,” Shetler said.

Shetler said Friday was the best game of his life, and looks forward to more wins with the Lancers, whom he calls his family.

“The culture is they all love each other,” Hale said. “It’s easy when you have a locker room where kids love hanging out with each other. The culture is strong and we will continue to build off of that.

“Clay is an overall athlete and his skills were on display Friday night. That’s who Clay is. He’s a good kid too. A good football player but an even better person.”