Lake Erie coach David Price has had enough of the losing. He wants to bring a winning culture to the Division II college in Painesville.

So far, so good this year.

Lake Erie opened the 2026 season with a dominant 35-7 rout of visiting Saint Anselm at Jack Britt Stadium in Painesville.

Hunter Newell completed 16 of 25 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Tyliek Maxwell caught seven of those passes for 125 yards and a touchdown. Julian Means-Flewellen and Hakeem Quran each ran for a score. The Storm dominated time of possession, 42:31 to 17:29.

Lake Erie’s offense was effective, but the real story of the win was its defense. The Storm held Saint Anselm to 32 yards on the ground, 215 total yards, and only allowed the Hawks to convert two of 11 third-down plays.

Then there were the takeaways. Three altogether for the Storm defense: a pick-6, a fumble recovery that led to a touchdown, and another interception that resulted in a missed field goal.

PHOTOS: Lake Erie vs. Saint Anselm football, Sept. 5, 2026

“When you start talking about our defense, they’ve really taken on the personality of Coach McGaughy (defensive coordinator), Coach Perry (defensive line), and Coach Rautt (defensive backs),” Price said. “They’ve really injected a sense of pride in the defense. (The players) understand what the scheme is, and I think that’s a lot of just really good teaching.”

Lake Erie won the coin toss, chose to receive, and went to work. Newell led the Storm on a lengthy drive that ate 8:13 off the clock, and culminated in his three-yard scoring toss to tight end Devin Morgan.

Jalen Joyce, a defensive lineman and one of the team captains, recovered a Saint Anselm fumble after a short completed pass at the Hawks’ 37.

Newell hit Maxwell with an out-and-up completion down to the 7-yard line, and Means-Flewellen took it into the end zone from there for a 14-0 Storm lead.

Neither team threatened again until the middle of the second quarter.  After a shanked punt, Lake Erie took over near midfield. The Storm moved the ball across the Hawks’ 40 for a first down, but Newell was then thrown for an 11-yard loss back to the 50.

Unfazed, on the next play Newell found Maxwell in the flat, and he dodged a couple of defenders and went the distance for a 50-yard touchdown and 21-0 Lake Erie lead.

“We were just thinking about the energy, about getting a run started,” Maxwell said. “Once we can get a run started, that opens everything else up.”

The Storm nearly scored again before halftime, but on a fourth down inside the Saint Anselm five with under 10 seconds to go, a botched snap prevented them from attempting a field goal, so they settled for the 21-0 halftime lead.

An interception by Miles Anderson (Garfield Heights Trinity) was returned for a Lake Erie touchdown in the third quarter, but the score was erased by an illegal block, and the possession resulted in a 47-yard field goal attempt that fell short.

On Saint Anselm’s next possession, the Hawks drove to the Lake Erie 39, just the second time they’d crossed midfield all game, but Lake Erie’s Jason Hewlett (Youngstown Chaney) picked off a pass and brought it back for a pick-6, and this time there were no flags in sight.

“Jason is a guy who’s done it the right way since he’s been here,” Price said of Hewlett. “He’s played at a few BCS schools and came here, and I’ve never seen a guy who’s played (at a higher level) be so humble. He says ‘Coach, what do I have to be arrogant about?’ It’s been refreshing to see in this day and age with college football being what it is.”

Saint Anselm (New Hampshire) came back with its only scoring drive of the game, going 70 yards in six plays, and reaching the end zone on a 16-yard pass from Nick Caro to Dylan Reed.

Quran’s 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter completed a seven-play, 39-yard drive that began when Lake Erie stopped Saint Anselm on a fourth-and-1 play.

Lake Erie is 1-0 for the first time since the Storm beat Clarion University, 31-26, five years ago almost to the day, on Sept. 4, 2021.

“It means a lot,” Newell said. “We put in a lot of hard work in the offseason. I’m just super-proud of our guys. My O-line held up real well, and we had some guys that were able to make some plays today.”

Establishing a winning culture happens incrementally, one game at a time. Lake Erie is off to a good start. Now they’ll see if they can continue it on Sept. 12, when they travel to West Virginia to play Wheeling.

“When it comes to establishing a winning culture, our guys have to understand that losing is unacceptable here,” Price, in his third year at Lake Erie, said. “That hasn’t always been the mindset here. Even when we first took over, there was a mentality that it was OK to lose and not give your best effort.

“We do hope to continue momentum going into Week 2 and playing against a tough opponent. We’re going to enjoy this for about 12 hours, fix what’s broke, and get right back to work.”