Perhaps those compliments of their teammates' progress were just a subtle way of saying "Thank you."
With the defensive backfield's ability to defend man-to-man and not surrender long scoring plays, starting cornerbacks Brodrick Crain and Darrius White, safeties Nick Alaniz and Reyes Jimenez, and others have given Tiger rushers more freedom to disrupt opposing offenses.
Their unheralded play has turned Belton's defense into a force and has helped the Tigers to their first 5-0 start in six seasons.
"We're more athletic," said senior defensive captain Crain, who has 33 tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception this season. "We're smarter and we're more excited about football because we're actually winning this year."
Belton (2-0 in District 12-5A) has allowed seven touchdowns through the first five games but only two scoring plays have been longer than 5 yards. Opponents have scored just one touchdown through the air, have 16 passing plays of 10 yards or more (3.2 per game) and have completed just 47-of-112 attempts (42 percent).
Because they're capable of not only defending receivers but blanketing them to the point where quarterbacks must hold onto the ball longer, linemen Tim Bower (six sacks), Zac Sakaria (five sacks) and several others have been frequent guests in the opposition's backfield.
"It's allowed us to do some things pressure-wise that we didn't feel comfortable doing last year," said Belton coach Rodney Southern, whose team faces College Station A&M Consolidated at 7:30 Friday night at Tiger Field.
"It's allowed us to say at some point especially at our corner positions 'OK, we can take your No. 1 receivers and make it nine on nine.' I feel comfortable we can cover those guys."
The four starters, along with backups, sophomore Tramaine Rose - who possesses an innate talent to always be around the football - and senior Zach Hebert, admit they all like to brag a little bit. Whether Crain and Alaniz are competing for the most stops (Alaniz has 37 to lead by four) or Crain and White are battling for most interceptions (Crain leads one to zero), there's always friendly banter being dished back and forth.
How they got that way started in the spring when the players said their approach on defense changed. Along with growing physically bigger and faster in the weight room, they learned how to take more direct angles and became better open-field tacklers.
Another year of experience in Belton's rising program likely paid the most dividends. Last season the players said they felt lost at times in coverage, but now they're on the same page with the coaching staff.
"We didn't have a really good understanding of why they were calling it (coverages)," said senior Alaniz about last year. "This year it seems we all understand why they're calling each coverage and what they're wanting us to do."
Said junior Jimenez, who has 10 tackles and one caused fumble: "To me it always felt like we were supposed to get beat (one-on-one) last year. We could never even up the matchup with them. This year it feels like we're head-to-head. Whatever they can do, we're there to stop them."
They're not only helping to shut down opponents but are forcing turnovers. So far the secondary has seven of Belton's nine takeaways this season. Sophomore Rose has two fumble recoveries and an interception while junior White had a 66-yard fumble return for a touchdown against Harker Heights.
Greater communication among the group has allowed them to gamble more wisely as they've grown more confident in covering receivers one-on-one.
"Playing with Nick last year, we trust each other more that he's going to be there," Jimenez said. "If I go for the pick, Brodick's going to hit the guy and stuff like that - just awareness of who's on the field and what they're capable of."
Said Crain: "I think we believe in ourselves. I think we believe we can play man coverage and not be worried about getting burned. Last year it was like 'Ah man, we're running man again.'"
They're not saying that anymore.
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