Shanafelt amped up for senior season at Peters Township
Lucas Shanafelt embraces the “calm before the storm” so the Peters Township outside linebacker opts not to listen to music before football games.
“Before my first game, I tried headphones, but I didn’t like it because I was too calm. I like to be amped up, excited, and focused,” he said.
So before each game, Shanafelt “visualizes” all of the things he will be required to do. The plays he’ll make. The tackles and sacks.
“All the mental preparation,” he continued. “I focus on that.”
The strategy appears to work as Shanafelt is expected to be one of the top edge rushers as well as a top target at tight end in the WPIAL this season along with his teammate Reston Lehman.
An all-conference performer, Shanafelt played a key role on a Peters Township team that reached the WPIAL Class 5A finals and finished 11-2 overall last fall. He posted three sacks and 27 tackles on a defense that surrendered only 10.7 points per game in 2024. On an offense that managed 30 points per game, he pulled in 16 receptions for 135 yards and a touchdown.
It was a breakout season for Shanafelt who admittedly “hadn’t really played” much until his junior year.
“I surprised myself,” he said. “I really didn’t know what to expect and where my potential rested, but last year really made me realize what the team and I can do.”
In 2025, Shanafelt wants the Indians to reach the top of the mountain and as a senior, he is ready to play his part.
“Winning the WPIAL championship is the top goal because more than anything in life, last year’s loss stung,” he said. “It’s haunted us in a way and we have used that as motivation throughout the off season.
“Now is my time to make my mark and be one of the leaders on this team. My main impact is in leading by example, making plays when no one else can and showing others how it’s down every day.”
Shanafelt has “poured” everything he has into football. He says the sport takes up all of hit attention. During the off season, he spent a lot of time in the weight room, bulking up to 235 pounds on his 6-foot-4 frame, and on the field during summer drills. He supplemented those workouts with sessions at the D1 Training Center in Robinson Township.
“All my attention is strictly to football, my body and detail,” he said.
Off the football field, however, Shanafelt devotes time to academics. In fact, he carries a 4.5 GPA into his senior year. He scored 1300 on his SAT.
Numbers of which Stanford and other college recruiters took notice. Shanafelt had 22 scholarship offers, including from Power 4 schools such as Pitt, West Virginia and Purdue. He also listed offers from Akron, Buffalo, Cornell, Delaware, Fordham, Eastern Michigan, Harvard, James Madison, Kent State, Lehigh, Liberty, Miami (Ohio), Navy, Penn, Princeton, Temple, Toledo and Connecticut.
Shanafelt committed to Stanford earlier this spring. He will major in economics.
“Stanford felt like a good fit,” he said. “I loved the campus and the culture. Their schemes are a lot like ours on defense. They do a lot of different things and bring a lot to the table. The physical part, the consistency and competitiveness of the program felt like things that I needed.”
Shanafelt also wanted a place that would enable him to mature as a player and as a person. They are the primary reasons why he chose the Cardinal, which competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“I wanted to go to a place where I could improve as a person in all ways – education and football wise,” Shanafelt said. “Being away from family and not relying on mom, dad and other family members was something I wanted to tackle, something I needed to do.”
Shanafelt added he wanted to win as well, specifically “Win the ACC,” he said. Lehman, who picked Pitt, an ACC adversary of Stanford, reminded him that “he won’t.” However, the PT partners are preparing for an emotional ending to their high school careers.
As laid back as he is in the locker room, Shanafelt is passionate on the playing field. A Pick-6 or a sack sparks a “spontaneous” response.
“I get amped up and can break out into a celebration but it’s natural,” Shanafelt admitted. “I feel a lot of emotions in a game, especially if we lose.”
“Yea, he cries,” Lehman said. “He cries when we win too.”
Far down the road, Shanafelt may be shedding tears of joy should he achieve his ultimate goal. Of course, he said, he entertains thoughts of playing in the NFL.
“I remember watching NFL and NBA games when I was younger and I wanted to be like them,” he said. “That’s stayed consistent. I just have to put my all into it.”
Lucas Shanafelt
Bio box
Age: 17
Birthdate: May 19
Parents: Allison and Jason
Siblings: Carter, who is a sophomore at Penn State, and Emme, 14, who plays basketball and lacrosse.
QPA: 4.5
Clubs: National Honor Society
College choice: Stanford
Major: Economics
Food: Steak
Restaurant: Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse
Read: To Kill a Mockingbird
Movie: The Great Gatsby
Color: Black. “A lot of my clothing is black.”
Athlete(s): Boston Celtic Jayson Tatum and Spanish soccer player Lamine Yamal.
Music: Drake
Life lesson sports has taught you: Success will speak for itself.
Person with whom you’d like to have dinner: My grandmother, Judy Molinero. “I was very close with her and there’s a lot of things I have done since she passed away that I would like to tell her about.”
People might be surprised to know this about you: Reston (Lehman) and Nolan (DiLucia) are two of my best friends. We have a lot of similarities. Football wise, Reston and I are similar.