Marietta College’s Dawson Snyder (1) carries the ball past Ohio Northern’s Jacob Hershberger during Saturday’s game at Don Drumm Stadium. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

MARIETTA — The No. 1 rushing attack in the Ohio Athletic Conference was no match for the league’s top defense.

Marietta College, which entered Saturday allowing just eight points and 145 yards per game — both tops in the OAC — matched up with Ohio Northern Saturday at Don Drumm Stadium. The Pioneers completely shut down the Polar Bears en route to a 45-10 victory.

Ohio Northern, which dropped to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the OAC, averaged 328 rushing yards in its first three games, but against MC could muster only 29 yards on 47 carries. ONU two bad punts snaps that counted in the stat sheet as negative-52 rushing yards. Take those away, and the Polar Bears still only had 81 yards on 45 carries — 1.8 yards per carry.

“We were able to limit them on the ground, which is really what their focus is,” said Marietta head coach Andy Waddle. “We’re very physical on the D-line and that makes it tough to run against.”

Ohio Northern’s only points came on Jacob Hershberger’s pick-six and Jonmichael Elliott’s 20-yard field goal — which was the result of a short field via Mikey Moon’s interception. Other than that, there was nothing ONU could do.

Marietta College’s Jay Melchiori (4) goes up for a pass as Ohio Northern’s Roney Bordes (14) defends during Saturday’s game at Don Drumm Stadium. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

“Coach (Zach) Feltrop does a great job of scheming some things up and getting guys in the right position,” Waddle said of his defensive coordinator. “The guys really buy into the message that he and the defensive staff give them. They play really hard.”

Offensively, Marietta took its opening drive all the way to Ohio Northern’s 25-yard line, but Derek Cline’s 42-yard field goal attempt was blocked.

A brutal mistake by the Polar Bears led to the first points of the game. They lined up to punt, but the snap was too high for punter Jonmichael Elliott, and Marietta’s Lukas Ratliff fell on it at the ONU 27.

Marietta cashed in four plays later on Taz Morris’ 7-yard touchdown run.

Ohio Northern’s next possession resulted in an interception by Jake Visnic at midfield. Once again, the Pioneers converted the mistake into points as Vante’ Hodges scored on a 50-yard run to make it 14-0 with 5:13 left in the first quarter.

Marietta College’s Taz Morris (11) carries the ball as Ohio Northern’s Dalton Tjong (17) tries to wrap him up during Saturday’s game at Don Drumm Stadium. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

“We took advantage and made the most of those (mistakes),” Waddle said. “The two bad punt snaps were big, and we had the interception early in the game.”

Cline, who was 6 for 6 on extra point attempts, booted a 30-yard field goal in the second quarter to make it 17-0. ONU would get those points back on Elliott’s 20-yard field goal just before halftime.

Marietta’s first score of the second half was set up by another interception, this time by Brady Panucci. From 14 yards out, Vierstra threw a ball up to Morris, who went up over his defender and secured it for the touchdown to make it 24-3.

ONU’s second botched long-snap was scooped up by Fort Frye grad Zaiden Huck and returned 12 yards to the house. That put MC up 31-3 with 9:40 left in the third.

ONU got a much-needed big play when Hershberger jumped a corner route for an interception, which he returned 41 yards for a touchdown to cut it to 31-10.

Marietta College’s Brady McManaway (22) and Jaelon Quiero-Gordon (7) combine to bring down Ohio Northern’s Jordan Pettaway (23) during Saturday’s game at Don Drumm Stadium. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

That was the last sign of life Ohio Northern showed in the game. Vierstra threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jay Melchiori, and Hodges took a screen pass from backup QB Larson Brown 78 yards for a score to add the finishing touches.

Hodges and Morris have made a big impact out of the backfield this season. Running back was a question mark for the Pioneers after the graduation of Bryce Agnew, but Hodges and Morris have stepped up in a big way.

“They’ve been awesome,” Waddle said. “It’s great to be able to have a nice assortment of backs. Those two have been great the past two weeks.”

Vierstra finished 15 for 26 for 127 yards, two TDs and two picks. It was his least efficient game of the season, but he did enough to win against ONU’s league-best pass defense. Hodges led all rushers with 72 yards on eight carries.

Ohio Northern’s Jordan Pettaway led the OAC with 142 rushing yards per game coming into Saturday, but was held to 30 yards on 11 attempts. ONU quarterback Amir Collings was 15 for 30 for 115 yards and two interceptions. He was sacked four times — once each by Harley Hopkins, Brady McManaway, Jake Visnic and Chance Knight, who now has an OAC-leading eight.

Marietta had been one of the least penalized teams in the country, but got flagged 10 times for 82 yards Saturday. Waddle hopes to get that corrected.

“We were a little frustrated with the penalties we had, and the turnovers. Both of their scores came off turnovers. There’s things there that we have to clean up.”

At 4-0, the Pioneers still have everything in front of them this season. They hit the road next week to take on Heidelberg.

“Really excited to get this W and go 1-0 this week,” Waddle said. “We’re still chasing our goals and we’ve got a good group of guys that are hungry and care about each other and are willing to do what it takes.”

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@mariettatimes.com.