PAINESVILLE, Ohio - Michigan Tech outscored Lake Erie 21-0 in a dominant second-half performance to come away with a 42-13 season-opening victory today. The Huskies' defense shut out the hosts for the final 35 minutes, and the Huskies held a massive edge in time of possession in the final two quarters to move to 1-0 on the season.

Sophomore Akeem Cason turned in an 89-yard kickoff return touchdown in the first quarter and senior Phil Milbrath tallied three touchdowns on the day to lift the Huskies to their second straight win in the state of Ohio.

"I thought we played the full 60 minutes well," said fifth-year head coach Tom Kearly, who attained his 23rd career win. "We played very well defensively in the second half. Phil and Akeem gave us big plays and (quarterback) Steve (Short) managed the game very well."

The first quarter provided 31 of the 55 total points scored in the game. Lake Erie took the opening drive down to the two-yard line, where the Huskies defense rallied. The Storm settled for a 23-yard field goal.

Tech answered by marching 69 yards in eight plays capped off by Milbrath's three-yard dive into the endzone.

LEC crossed the goal line for the first and only time with 4:23 to play in the opening quarter. Sean Bedevelsky hooked up with Demetrius Gray from five yards out.

The Huskies weren't behind for long. Cason took the kickoff at his own 11 and sprinted through a huge hole and up the right sideline to paydirt. It was the first kickoff return TD by a Tech player since Jeff Dettwiler in 2001.

Three minutes later, Milbrath caught a screen pass from Short and raced 67 yards for a 21-10 lead. The Storm added a field goal in the second quarter and the defenses held to make the halftime score 21-13.

Michigan Tech made a statement with the opening drive of the second half, going 73 yards in 10 plays before Milbrath found the endzone for the third time.

Two possessions later, Short sprinted up the middle 14 yards on a quarterback keeper to make the score 35-13.

Tech's defense took over from there, holding the Storm on downs and picking off Bedevelsky twice in the final quarter. Linebackers Ian Coughlin and Mike Rittenour each had interceptions.

Cedrick Barber capped the day's scoring with a one-yard plunge with 2:54 to go.

Lake Erie held a 405-404 edge in yards of total offense. The Huskies ran the ball extremely well, gaining 196 yards on the ground including 109 from Milbrath. Adding in 82 yards receiving, the 5-9 tailback recorded 191 yards of all-purpose yardage.

Short completed 19-of-30 passes for 208 yards and a score. Sophomores Pat Carroll and Matt Curtin caught eight and six of those passes, respectively.

Storm quarterback Bedevelsky notched 262 yards on 17-of-32 accuracy and added 41 yards on the ground.

Safety Ben Foelker had a game-high nine tackles to lead the defense. Eleven others had at least four tackles in the contest.

Michigan Tech (1-0, 1-0 GLIAC) will play its home opener next Saturday (Sept. 18) vs. Wayne State. Kickoff at Sherman Field is set for 1 p.m.