Brookline, Mass. -- YSU quarterback Brandon Summers had three touchdown runs, including two in the fourth quarter, and safety Andre Elliott returned an interception for a score as the Youngstown State football team earned a hard-fought 38-21 victory over Northeastern on sunny Saturday afternoon at Parsons Field.

Summers had a one-yard score in the second quarter, but his two in the fourth quarter were back breakers.

On fourth down from the Northeastern one with YSU clinging to a 24-21 lead, Summers faked a hand off and took it around the left end to put YSU ahead 31-21 with 6:43 left.

He wasn't done.

After the YSU defense held the Huskies on a fourth-and-two from the eight, Summers put the contest out of reach with a crafty 73-yard scoring jaunt. On third-and-10 from the YSU 27 Summers faked a handoff and went around the right side this time racing 73 yards to the end zone untouched. It was the longest run by a quarterback in school history.

For the contest, YSU rushed for 227 yards on 44 carries and had 405 yards of total offense in the game.

Summers accounted for four touchdowns, including a 32-yarrd strike to Dominique Barnes late in the second quarter.

On the ground, Summers had 73 yards on nine rushers, Kevin Smith had 72 on 22 attempts and Dana Brown had 63 on 11 rushes. Summers was 16-of-24 for 159 yards through the air.

After the Penguins were forced to punt, Ben Nowicki's kick was returned 76 yards for a score by Northeastern's Tony Lott. Lott fielded the ball at his own 24 and raced to his left where he found a convoy of blockers that spring him to the end zone just 2:21 into the game. Last week against Austin Peay, the Governors blocked a punt for a score in the game's early going.

YSU dominated that stats in the first quarter but trailed 7-0. The Penguins had 107 yards of total offense to Northeastern's 29 and dominated the time of possession 12:11 to 2:49. However, Summers was intercepted in the red zone to stop the Guins' second drive of the game.

Once the Penguins were able to get the wind at their back, they took off. Wide receiver Aaron Pitts throw a pass that Summers took down to the NU one-yard line. Two plays later, Summers called his own number diving in from a yard out tying the contest at seven with 13:42 left.

The Huskies answered back to go ahead for the second time in the ball game. Alex Dulski found a wide open Greg Abelli who slipped past the YSU secondary on a perfect strike from 35 yards out giving the Huskies a 14-7 edge with 7:43 left before half.

YSU caught a break with just over a minute from halftime. Northeastern had moved the ball into YSU territory and had all three timeouts left when a bobbled snap was recovered by Jordan Edwards at midfield.

Four players later, Summers connected with Dominique Barnes on a 32-yard touchdown pass. Barnes slipped past three Husky defenders to score and tie the contest at 14 with just 36 ticks left in the half.

Youngstown State used a bit of trickery to open the second half when Stephen Blose executed a perfect onside kick that was recovered by Brandian Ross.

Blose finished off the drive by making a 36-yard field goal into the wind to give YSU its first lead of the game with 11:30 left in the third.

YSU took a 10-point lead when Andre Elliott returned his first career interception 30 yards for a touchdown with 6:32 left in the quarter. Dulski was under heavy pressure from defensive tackle Joe Marshall and threw the ball back into the field into the waiting arms or Elliott, who returned YSU's first interception for a touchdown since Jason Perry in 2006 (at Missouri State).

On the Huskies' ensuing drive, Sir Demarco Bledsoe intercepted Dulski, but on the very next play, Summers was intercepted turning the momentum of the game once again.

Northeastern took advantage of the turnover to get within three points on Tony Torres' two-yard score with just 30 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Penguins remain on the road next Saturday when they open Missouri Valley Football Conference play at Indiana State. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium in Terre Haute, Ind., is set for 12:05 p.m.