ADA, Ohio – Ohio Northern University jumped out to 28-0 lead en route to a 56-35 victory over Marietta College Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers fall to 2-6 overall and 1-6 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Polar Bears move to 5-3, 4-3 OAC. [Box Score]

Marietta struggled to stop the Ohio Northern ground attack. The Polar Bears rushed for 335 yards on 53 carries and scored seven rushing touchdowns. Sophomore running back Justin Buenger led the ground assault with 20 carries for 145 yards and three touchdowns.

The Polar Bears scored touchdowns on five of their first six possessions of the game. Sophomore quarterback Tyler Rue ran the ball in from 13-yards out with 12:58 left in the first to open the scoring.

On the Pioneers ensuing possession, Marietta gained seven yards on its first three plays and was forced to punt. ONU's Chad Coward blocked the punt and Zack Click picked the ball up and returned it for a 27-yard touchdown giving the Polar Bears a 14-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.

Rushing touchdowns by senior Seadrick Marshall and junior Carter Paul extended the lead to 28-0 with 14:15 left in the first half.

The Pioneers' offense came alive in the second quarter. Senior quarterback #Andrew Keller (Cincinnati/Glen Este)# hits sophomore wide receiver #Kirby Harris (Greenville, S.C./South Side)# on a 16-yard scoring strike to get Marietta on the board.

Following Rue's second touchdown of the game. Keller connected with senior wide receiver #Chad Walker (Spring Hill, Fla./Central)# for a pair of touchdown passes. The first went for 12 yards and the second was a 13-yard pass with three seconds left in the opening half. The Pioneers trailed 35-21 at the break.

Keller would end the day 26-of-54 for 295 yards. Keller threw for four touchdowns and ran for another. Harris had nine receptions for 123 yards and a score, while Walker had nine catches for 82 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Marietta carried the momentum in the third quarter. The Pioneers took the second half kickoff and mounted a 13-play, 78-yard scoring drive. Keller capped the drive with a seven-yard pass to junior wide receiver #Sean Munfield (Marietta/Marietta)#.

Ohio Northern continued to grind it out on the ground. The Polar Bears' next two possessions both resulted in touchdown runs for Buenger and combined to take nearly 10 minutes off the clock.

Trailing 49-28, Marietta put together a nine-play drive culminating with Keller diving in from a yard out with 5:17 left in the game.

Any hopes of a Pioneer comeback were put to rest when Buenger broke free for a 54-yard touchdown run to ice the game.

Rue was 13-of-20 passing for 134 yards. He carried the ball 11 times for 75 yards and two touchdowns.

Sophomore running back #Kyle Booth (Lewisburg/Tri-County North)# was Marietta's leading rusher with 47 yards on 21 carries.

Defensively, Marietta senior defensive back #Jake Depp (Geneva/Geneva)# had a game-high 14 tackles. Freshman linebacker Steven Kenny led the Polar Bears with 11 tackles.

Marietta travels to Westerville next weekend for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff against the Cardinals of Otterbein University. Otterbein lost to Mount Union this afternoon by the score of 42-0. The Cardinals are 2-6 overall and 1-6 in the OAC.