Anderson High School's Ace Alston paused during a weightlifting session when the senior class was called. The 4-star cornerback and Notre Dame verbal commit was caught off guard.

"I kind of hesitated for a little minute," Alston told WCPO's Mike Dyer after a July practice. "I was like, 'Wait, dang that's me.' Really realizing that I'm a senior and stepping into that leadership is really just special. I'm ready to ride it out one more time with my boys."

Alston, ranked among Ohio's top five prospects in the 2027 class by the 247Sports Composite, headlines a Raptors squad that enters the season ranked No. 25 nationally in the USA Today Super 25 preseason poll. Anderson opens Friday, August 21, at home against Louisville Trinity, a perennial Kentucky contender.

For the first time in head coach Evan Dreyer's 11 seasons at Anderson, the staff is deploying players on both sides of the ball. Alston will line up at wide receiver in addition to his duties at cornerback, kick returner, and punt returner. He hasn't played receiver since middle school, but the bloodlines are there: his father, Dee Alston, played Division I receiver at West Virginia.

Alston said the transition has gone well, calling it "a challenge for sure but a challenge that I can handle." Dreyer said the staff plans a "pitch count" early in the season to keep Alston healthy for the postseason.

The two-way experiment is part of a broader depth push after back-to-back heartbreaks. Anderson went 14-1 in 2025 and reached the OHSAA Division II state championship game for the second straight year, falling to Avon 37-20 on December 4, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. The Raptors also lost to Avon in the 2024 title game, 20-13. Under Dreyer, the program has gone 42-3 over its last 45 games, with all three losses to Northeast Ohio opponents.

That sting is fueling the preseason. Dreyer told WCPO that Alston's work ethic has spread through the roster, noting the senior routinely logs two or three practice sessions in a single day between team workouts, speed training, and outside strength and conditioning.

"We've got a bunch of depth, a bunch of experience and a lot of seniors that want to get back and know what we have to do to get back," Dreyer said.

Alston's junior stat line backs up the hype: 53 tackles, 17 pass breakups, two interceptions, two tackles for loss, and a forced fumble. Opponents targeted him on just 12 percent of coverage snaps and completed only 29 percent of passes his way, according to 247Sports.

He committed to Notre Dame on December 9, 2025, live on CBS Sports, at a ceremony at Anderson High School where he poured a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal with milk before picking up the Fighting Irish hat. He is the first Anderson football player to commit to Notre Dame since offensive lineman Zeke Correll, a 2019 graduate.

Alston also earned invitations to the Polynesian Bowl and the Navy All-American Bowl, becoming the first Anderson athlete to play in the Polynesian Bowl.