From coaches, to players to fans, there were a lot of moving parts that came together as one during Liberty’s run to the state championship game.

When Alex Kaser, Cameron Talley and the rest of the team sat down at camp to come up with the team’s word for the season, it came fairly easily: one.

“We’ve been playing together for so long and we wanted our word to really mean something,” Kaser said. “We came up with ‘one’ because that embodies everything we are for.”

From one play, to one practice, to one game, the Patriots knew they had to play as one to reach their goals this season.

“We picked that to show that we play together,” Talley said. “If we don’t play together as one, it doesn’t work.”

As senior leaders this season, both Kaser and Talley had a huge impact on the team playing together and at a high level.

Alex Kaser

Kaser, 5-foot-11, 215 pounds, played center and defensive end for the Patriots this season, but that’s not where he started his football career at Liberty.

He played running back and linebacker his sophomore season before the coaches switched him to center and defensive end.

“That shows a lot of selflessness,” said Liberty coach Steve Valach. “He really took that move to heart.”

Kaser has always impressed the coaches with his work ethic (“You can count the number of days he’s missed in the weight room on one hand,” Valach said), and he’s pretty creative in thinking of workout regimens too.

Kaser and his father drove down to his uncle’s farm in Oregon, dug out a tractor tire and brought it back north to Renton.

The tire is six feet in diameter and about 300 pounds. Kaser said the linemen would jump through it, flip it and push it around the track. It also gave the group an edge to add to the chip already on their shoulder about being a small offensive line.

“If anything we embrace it,” Kaser said. “We may lack body fat, but we’re athletic. We play together and we have fun with it.”

Kaser starred in Liberty’s playoff win against Lakes Nov. 27. He totaled 10 tackles and two sacks.

Cameron Talley

Talley, 6-foot, 190 pounds, played linebacker and tight end. He impressed the coaches as a scout-team player his sophomore season.

“He would make plays where the coaches would look at each and say,’ Does Talley know the plays?’” Valach said. “He has always had great football intelligence and instinct.”

Despite being a quiet leader, Talley still had profound impact on other players. Valach remembers Talley sending text messages to a younger player who was struggling with two-a-days after every practice to keep his head up and continue to play hard.

“That’s the kind of stuff that makes your program special,” Valach said.

Talley took his responsibility as a leader by example very seriously.

“As a leader you work hard because someone’s always watching you and using you as an example,” Talley said.

Talley caught nine passes for 112 yards and a touchdown through the regular season, and piled up the tackles as one of the Patriots’ most active defenders.

Season to remember

Liberty didn’t win the 3A state title, but they pulled off something nearly as impressive. They were one.

“Just look at our stands… it wasn’t we are No. 1, it was we are one,” Valach said after Liberty loss to Bellevue in the state title game Dec. 4. “It’s a totally different mentality. It was about community, it was about family, it wasn’t about me. I love that. It makes you proud. It makes you go seven days a week for all these months. It made it about more than football.”