By NICK McQUEEN

nmcqueen@dailynews.net

In his first three seasons at the helm of Fort Hays State University football program, Kevin Verdugo stuck with the plan of keeping his players fresh and healthy for game day. He accomplished that goal by fielding a full, fresh team each week through three years of mediocre football.

This year, Verdugo took a different approach through training camp and the first week of practice, throwing the 2008 version of the Tigers into tougher situations and taking conditioning to another level. The result, Verdugo said, is a team ready to face adversity.

In the season opener Thursday, this theory paid off. The Tigers made the necessary adjustments at halftime, and rolled in the second half to a 44-0 victory over New Mexico Highlands University at Lewis Field Stadium.

"Part of the slow start was brought on by the fact of not having any game film. We had a tough preparation for this game. We were kind of guessing what we were going to see," Verdugo said of the win, the Tigers' second straight 1-0 start. "Once we were able to see everything they were doing in that first half, that helped us pick up the pace a little bit."

A stagnant game that saw a 7-0 Fort Hays lead in the second quarter was ignited late in the period, made possible by some of that adjustment Verdugo had wanted to see. Junior cornerback C.J. Lovett picked off a tipped pass from Highlands quarterback Vince Seeno and rumbled 77 yards down the sideline for the score and a 14-0 Tiger lead. Not only did the play give the Tigers the lead, but slowed down a Cowboy passing game that seemed destined for the end zone and a tie ball game going into the halftime locker room.

"It was about getting to see a little bit of what they were doing," Lovett said. "We didn't have any film on them or anything like that, so we really didn't know what they were going to do."

Highlands (0-1) had connected on four pass plays of 15-plus yards, including a 48-yarder in the first quarter. The interception slowed the Highlands passing game to a near halt as Seeno was picked off again on the next series, this time by Tiger sophomore defensive back Michael Walker.

"It was huge. It helped give us some momentum right there,"¬ Verdugo said of Lovett's pick. "I still wasn't comfortable coming in with 14 points on the board. I thought we were playing our assignments, but we really weren't laying the lumber like we could or should."

Senior Bryan Haynes gave Fort Hays the rest of the spark it needed in the second half. Haynes took the opening kickoff out of the locker room 97 yards (tied for fourth all time in school history) for a score and a 21-0 Tiger lead.

"Our whole goal was to hit up the middle and just get as many yards as we can," Haynes said. "Getting a touchdown right off the bat is always a good positive, though.

"It was more of we needed to put our foot down and make a statement. We started off slow and we just needed to put our foot down and play how we play," he added.

That sparked the rout as the Tiger defense buckled down and the offense started showing signs of its playmaking ability.

The next score came on a 7-yard run by junior quarterback Mike Garrison, who also threw a 13-yard TD pass to junior tailback Jacobb Irvin in the second quarter. Garrison ran over two defenders on his way to the end zone.

"Everyone thinks I'm just a little quarterback that doesn't like to get hit, but when I run, I put my shoulder down," the Bulter County Community College transfer said. "I'm not going to be shy about it. I am going to run some people over."

Garrison later connected with Haynes on a 71-yard scoring toss down the sideline, the final scoring play by the Tiger starters to make it 34-0 after a botched snap on the point after, the only blunder of the night on special teams.

"We knew we could go down the field,"¬ Garrison said. '"There wasn't a corner that could keep up with him."

Late in the quarter, sophomore Anthony Smith took over at QB and freshmen A.J .Willis saw time in the backfield, replacing Irvin and junior Anthony Dickson, who was key on both offense and special teams.

"Once the guys started understanding what we were seeing, they were able to go out and play fast and hard,"¬ Verdugo said.

Willis scored on a 17-yard run in the fourth quarter, and junior kicker Nathan Rausa put the finishing touches on the victory with a 31-yard field goal with 1:55 to play.

"It's a good win for our program -- a nice start to the season," Verdugo said.

Fort Hays now takes on another former RMAC foe, Colorado School of Mines next week in Golden, Colo. Mines is 0-1 after a 27-3 loss Thursday at Washburn University, a game called with just under nine minutes left due to lightning in Topeka.

Game notes

* In his Tiger debut, Dickson had four punt returns for 66 yards, including one for 44 yards that set up Garrison's scoring run in the third quarter. Dickson ended the game with 34 yards rushing on seven carries. Irvin led the Tigers rushing attack with 68 yards on eight carries as the Tigers netted 201 yards rushing.

* Garrisoncompleted 6-of-18 passes for 117 yards and two scores, and rushed for one more. He threw to three different receivers, and Smith was 1-for-1 as the backup.

* The shutout was the Tigers' first since a 10-0 win over Missouri Southern State University in 2006 at Lewis Field Stadium and the second time in as many years the Tigers have blown out an RMAC opponent. Fort Hays opened last season with a 55-3 rout of Western State (Colo.) College. The Tigers recorded five sacks in the opener, two coming from sophomore defensive end Garrett Nikkel. Highlands had just three net yards rushing.

* In other MIAA action: MMissouri Western State University outlasted Northern State, 38-27, on the road. Central Missouri defeated Minnesota State-Mankato, 29-9, and the Missouri S&T-Truman State matchup at Central Methodist University in Fayette, Mo., was postponed due to weather. No makeup date has been announced. Saturday, Emporia State hosts Western State, No. 2 Northwest Missouri State hosts No. 8 Abilene (Texas) Christian, Missouri Southern hosts Harding (Ark.) and No. 17 Pittsburg State travels to Central Oklahoma.