A member of a rock band, the thick-haired Ricky Alvarez is jokingly nicknamed "T-Rex" by his Belton teammates because his short arms can't be raised above his head in shoulder pads.

The clean-cut Amaury Del Real spends his time chilling with friends.

And Tyler Vail, who received the "X factor" label after making that gesture when he scored his first career touchdown earlier this season, is the always-bantering hunter and fisherman.

Their different personalities make them easy to distinguish off the field. But on the gridiron the non-flashy Tiger linebackers have developed great instincts and always seem to be in the correct position.

Their secret?

"Last year we were inexperienced. We were a whole lot younger. The scheme is so much different this year," said Padgett, a senior who has 47 tackles. "It comes natural now. There's not much to say."

Add in a brutal offseason program and an ability to rapidly process knowledge from hours of film sessions and it's easy to understand how these hard-hitting, sure-handed tacklers have learned to take better angles on the field.

"Just missing tackles and knowing that Coach (Rodney Southern) tells you, 'You could have been there to make that tackle,'" said Del Real, a senior who is fifth on the team with 51 tackles. "It's just like making any kind of mistake in life - you don't want to do it again, so you learn from watching film and learn from coaches telling you so it just comes naturally."

All of that behind-the-scenes work has been reflected on the field as Belton's now-stingy defense heads into its matchup against rival Temple at 7 Thursday night at Wildcat Stadium.

cmeister@temple-telegram.com