By By Patrick McHugh, News Staff

‘Drinking the nectar of victory is something we need to get to,’ head football coach Rocky Hager said Saturday after suffering a 38-21 loss to non-conference foe Youngstown State at Parsons Field.
The Huskies did not get to taste victory Saturday, falling at home amidst 2,180 spectators at Parsons Field in Brookline. The Huskies are 0-3 this season, while the Penguins move to 2-1.
Things started optimistically for the hosts as senior wide receiver and captain Tony Lott took a punt return 76 yards down the sideline and into the end zone to help the Huskies to a 7-0 lead just two minutes, 21 seconds into the contest. It was the first time NU returned a punt for a touchdown since the 2001 season finale Nov. 24 against Rhode Island.
Youngstown State responded quickly, however, methodically moving 84 yards down the field to chew up 5:54 off the clock. Senior quarterback Brandon Summers then took in a sneak from the one-yard line to help put the Penguins back in the game at 7-7.
Northeastern pushed its advantage back to seven two drives later when junior quarterback Alex Dulski, returning from a shoulder injury he sustained against Boston College Sept. 5, led a potent passing attack down the field. Dulski hit Lott, freshman wide receiver Jordan Batts, and senior wide receiver Ron Conway on the drive. With 7:45 to go until halftime, Dulski found junior wide receiver Greg Abelli sprinting down the middle of the field for a 35-yard touchdown, and senior kicker Mat Johnson converted on the kick for a 14-7 advantage.
Dulski said he got all his receivers involved because each was given space by the Penguins’ defense.
‘Our strategy was to take what they give us and not force anything on them,’ Dulski said. ‘We seemed to take advantage of quite a few of those and it worked out well for us.’
On the next Huskies drive, some miscommunication resulted in a costly turnover. On a third and one from the Youngstown State 48-yard line, freshman quarterback Matt Carroll came in for Dulski but could not cleanly exchange a handoff with junior running back John Griffin and fumbled, which the Penguins recovered. Four plays later, Summers found junior wide receiver Dominique Barnes for a 32-yard touchdown 36 seconds before the half.
Coming out of halftime, Youngstown State head coach Jon Heacock took a gamble that turned momentum to his team’s side for the rest of the game. YSU opened the second half with an on-side kick that it recovered at its 43-yard line. The offense could not drive the ball into the end zone, but did come away with three points when junior kicker Stephen Blose connected on a 36-yard field goal to make it 17-14.
Dulski made his first critical mistake at the 6:32 mark of the third quarter. Rolling to his left out of the pocket, Dulski threw across his body to the middle of the field where junior free safety Andre Elliot snatched the ball out of the air and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown, pushing the YSU lead to 24-14.
Dulski admitted his decision to force a throw was a mistake.
‘I pretty much violated the cardinal sin:’ Quarterbacks never throw late over the middle,’ Dulski said. ‘The coaches have emphasized that time and time again. It’s just a bad decision by me trying to make a play.’
NU responded at the end of the quarter as sophomore running back Tony Torres took an option pitch and ran it in from two yards away to help make the score 24-21.
Youngstown State dominated the remainder of play, as Conway shanked a punt in the fourth quarter that gave the Penguins the ball at the NU 22-yard line. Taking advantage of the good field position, Summers finished a seven-play drive with a one-yard touchdown run, his second of the game, to make it 31-21.
Northeastern’s offense could not convert in key opportunities, including a fourth and two from the YSU seven.
Summers effectively ended the game with 1:30 to go when he faked a handoff and sprinted 73 yards for the final touchdown to make it 38-21.
Hager said small mistakes are holding back the team from victory and need to be fixed.
‘We feel like there are things that we need to get a grasp of, be accountable to, and get corrected,’ Hager said.
NU will travel to Philadelphia to face the No. 2 ranked Villanova Wildcats Saturday at 3:30.
Dulski said winning and losing comes down to executing the plays when called upon.
‘The coaching staff put us in the right position to win,’ Dulski said. ‘They can only call the plays, we can only execute the plays as players, and there was a little breakdown of that today. It comes down to accountability, doing your job. You have to do it for 60 minutes and this game gets to be a grind sometimes, and we have to learn to really grind it out for four quarters, not just one half.’

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