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Even as a third grader, Isaac Ales played football with an aggressive mindset.

In his first season of flag football, Ales was penalized six times in a game for tackling.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” Muscatine defensive coordinator Jake Mueller said. “He likes to get after it and likes to compete.”

Since being moved up to the varsity squad midway through his freshman season, Ales has been getting after it on the defensive line for the Muskies.

Ales was the program’s fourth-leading tackler as a sophomore with 59 stops and five tackles for loss.

And despite a 2-7 record this season for the Muskies, Ales was a bright spot for the defense.

The 6-foot-2 junior had 78 tackles (17 for loss) and 6 1/2 sacks. He was named to the Mississippi Athletic Conference’s first team and a second team all-state selection in Class 4A by the Iowa Newspaper Association and Des Moines Register.

“I try and be the most intense person out there,” Ales said. “I don’t talk back to anybody and I keep it clean, but I also let the person know I’m here to play.”

Mueller labeled his energy and intensity level “tremendous.”

“He practices and plays hard every minute he’s out there,” Mueller said. “Going into the season, he was the one guy who knew what it meant to have the intensity needed for every play. That’s tough for younger players, but he had it from day one.”

Going above and beyond

Ales isn’t afraid of hard work.

Asked what he likes to do away from football, he mentioned hunting, fishing and running the steps at St. Mathias Church on West Eighth Street. There are 50 steps from the bottom to the top.

With weights strapped to his ankles, Ales starts at the bottom while his father, Paul, is halfway up. The goal is for Ales to reach the top before his dad does.

“I really love that,” Ales said. “Without him pushing me, I probably wouldn’t be in this position. I know Bettendorf, Assumption and other teams are doing the same thing.”

Typically, Ales said it takes him six or seven seconds to climb the stairs. He compares it to Iowa coordinator Norm Parker’s motto of “six seconds of hell.”

“Every play lasts about six seconds, so I’m looking for that six-second pace,” Ales said. “It’s a good workout.”

When the weather turns bad, Ales runs the stairs at the high school.

“He is constantly working hard to do what he’s supposed to do,” Muscatine head coach Tony Napierala said. “You can tell he really wants to be a good football player.”

“The little extra stuff you can do to get ahead of everybody else pays off in the long run,” Ales said.

Ales is just as committed in the weight room. Currently, he can do a team-best 310-pound clean – a fast-motion lift where weight is pulled from the floor to a racked position. He squats 410 pounds.

Because of that lower body strength, he’s able to get off the ball quickly.

“It’s helped a lot,” he said. “Now I need to get stronger in the upper body. I’m really going to work on my bench (press) this summer.”

Mueller said Ales, who is currently 225 pounds, needs to get between “240 and 250” by the start of next season.

“I think it’s doable,” said Mueller, who coaches Ales in track and field and has been his counselor since the seventh grade. “He’s very cautious of what he’s eating right now, and I’m making sure he has enough food.

“He’ll be able to put it on. He’s got a nice frame.

“He’s an active kid, so it’s a struggle to put on weight, but we’re starting to see gains.”

Becoming a lineman

Ales grew up with football. He points to his grandfather, Wally Hayes, and father as influences to get him interested.

“I’ve always grown up around the Hawkeyes, and my grandpa was a huge Bears fan,” he said. “It’s pretty much my life. I wouldn’t know what to do without it.”

After two years of flag football, Ales played in the Youth Sports Foundation as a fifth and sixth grader. John Jindrich was his coach.

“I remember we had like 41 plays for our youth league, so we had to wear these little wrist bands,” Ales said. “It was confusing but fun.”

In middle school, Ales was a running back, tight end and linebacker.

“I loved linebacker,” Ales said.

It all changed when he came to high school.

During Ales’ freshman season of fall camp, Brian Sauser – the former head coach now at Iowa City West – asked all the tight ends to stand up and go to a certain area of the field. Ales stood up and started to walk before Sauser said, “No, you’re with the linemen.”

Later, Sauser called the linebackers over and Ales started to walk over before Sauser interjected, “No, you’re with the linemen.”

“Sauser kind of determined my line fate,” Ales said.

As a freshman, Ales played at all three levels in the program – freshman, sophomore and varsity.

“It was a busy year,” he said. “I totally maxed out on the number of games (14) I could play in.”

His varsity experience as a freshman proved to be valuable. Ales can still remember getting “lit up” on one play against Assumption, when an offensive lineman blind-sided him and smashed him to the ground.

“I learned I better keep my head on a swivel,” he quipped. “It didn’t feel too good. It made me pretty woozy.”

Still three years after being moved to the line, Ales has no regrets. He likes competing in the trenches and the one-on-one battles.

“I love it,” he said. “It’s guaranteed that I’m going to get to hit somebody every play.”

In particular, he enjoys playing defensive end where he can rush the quarterback.

“He’s relentless,” Napierala said. “We try and move him around to take advantage of his abilities. Every day, he’s very conscientious about what he needs to do and where he needs to be.”

And he’s productive.

It’s unusual for a defensive lineman to have gaudy tackle numbers. Typically, linebackers and safeties are the team’s tackle leaders.

Mueller attributes it to Ales’ awareness and ability to be around the football.

“There are a lot of things you can teach, but one of those things you can’t is a nose for the football,” Mueller said. “He has an eye for the ball. He knows how to make plays and find the ball, and that separates him from the average high school player.

“Isaac plays to the whistle. You teach that and coach that, but not many kids do that. When you turn on the film, Isaac is making tackles 10 to 15 yards down the field. He’s a notch above.”

Ales’ future

With his senior season approaching, Ales has seen his mail box become cluttered with recruiting letters from colleges. Iowa and Iowa State have shown interest as have several Division II schools.

Ales said his father has a drawer at home with all the letters. Currently, he’s received more than 60.

“I usually never get any mail, but now it’s starting to come,” he said. “It’s awesome. It’s the kind of mail I like to get.”

Ales received tickets to Iowa and Iowa State games this season. The chance to play Division I football would be a “dream,” he said.

“Hopefully, I can get there,” he said.

Napierala isn’t ready to sell him short of that.

“He’s going to have to get bigger, but I’m pretty sure he will,” he said. “He’s the type of kid you never know what’s going to happen because he works so hard. Eventually, some good things are going to happen for him. He’s got some goals, and more than likely, he’ll do what it takes to make those things happen.”

In the meantime, Ales isn’t stressing about the recruiting process.

“I’m trying to enjoy it,” he said. “I don’t want to look back on these years later and think I hated it. I want to enjoy it while it lasts.”

First, he’s trying to gear up for his last season.

It starts with two-a-day lifting after Thanksgiving break, followed by track and field season in the spring and then a summer in the weight room.

Napierala said Ales – who played primarily defense this year – will be expected to play both ways next season.  Most likely, he’ll be inserted at left or right tackle.

In addition to playing both ways, Napierala is anticipating Ales to be the backbone of his squad.

“He’ll need to take on a larger leadership role, in terms of setting the tone and expectations,” Napierala said. “It’s something we need to have at the forefront of our football team.”

Like any challenge, Ales is ready and willing.

“I need to start being more vocal,” Ales said. “We want to get this program back in the right direction.

“It’s going to take a lot of work.”

Isaac Ales

-  Year: Junior

- Height/weight: 6-foot-2, 225 pounds

- Position: Defensive line

- 2009 statistical line: Ales was the team’s second-leading tackler with 78 stops, including 45 solo tackles. He registered 17 tackles for loss and 6 1/2 sacks. Against Burlington, he had 2 1/2 sacks and forced a pair of fumbles.  

- Team’s record: 2-7

- Other activities: Track and field

- Head coach Tony Napierala on Ales: “He’s relentless. He only knows one way to go, and that’s as hard as he can. You need as many kids as you can get like that. … He really wants to be a good football player.”