SALEM, Ore. -- After neither team was able to score in the first quarter, Willamette put up 42 points in the second and third periods to win the annual Wagon Wheel Game 49-14 over Lewis & Clark at McCulloch Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Lewis & Clark (0-7; 0-5 NWC) scored touchdowns on drives of eight and six plays in the fourth quarter to end the Bearcats run of unanswered points.

Five seconds into the fourth quarter, Eric Hawkins scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, his first of the season, to give the Pioneers their first points of the game. Carl Appleton's 14-yard reception on fourth-and-11 kept the drive alive.

Freshman quarterback Mike Machado entered the game later in the fourth, and on his second drive, found Bryce Johnson for a 20-yard touchdown, Johnson's second of the year. Machado also ran for a 14-yard gain on a draw play and threw a 15-yard pass to Jantzen Shinmoto on the drive.

The Pioneers also recovered three fumbles in the final 22 minutes of the game. On a Sifa Tonga punt, Willamette returner Rayvon Owens lost the ball and Lewis & Clark gained possession, scoring the Hawkins touchdown on the next possession.

Later in the quarter, Cody Banks jumped on a fumble by Kyle Clouthier before John McClenny recovered one by Reece Hack.

Willamette (2-5; 2-3) was able to execute its Northwest Conference second-best rushing game, as the Bearcats totaled 323 yards while limiting the Pios to 30 on the ground. Taylor Livingston had 142 yards, averaging nearly 11 yards per carry, while Jacob Swilley added 81 yards.

Most of the Bearcats scoring, though, came on touchdown passes to Austin Jones. The junior tight end caught four TDs, including three in the first half, to finish with 95 yards. Although he had one touchdown entering the game, his performance tied a Willamette record for most touchdowns in a game.

Lewis & Clark's Remington Campbell and Stein Retzlaff each had 13 tackles in the game, the most by anyone. Fellow linebacker Thor Retzlaff added 10, the same as Willamette's leading tackler Mark Mulligan.

The teams exchanged two possessions apiece to start the game, all of which ended in a punt. After starting its second drive from its own 8-yard line, Willamette started its third possession from its own 12. Driving 88 yards on 13 plays, the Bearcats scored on the second play of the second quarter when quarterback Ryan Knowlton found Jones for a 12-yard touchdown to give Willamette a 7-0 lead with 14:35 to go in the half.

Willamette's second scoring drive was much faster. This time, Jones scored on a 34-yard reception on the fourth play of the drive. It took 1:02 off the clock and Lewis & Clark trailed 14-0 with 12:10 remaining in the second quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Lewis & Clark freshman Daniel Dennis returned the ball 52 yards to the Willamette 40-yard line, but quarterback Niko Fortino was intercepted by Damian Jackson on the third play of the possession, setting the Bearcats up at the Lewis & Clark 45-yard line.

Three of the next seven Willamette plays were for 10-plus yards before Nikk Ryan scored a 1-yard rushing touchdown to extend the Bearcats lead to 21-0 with 8:17 left in the second quarter.

The Pioneers best drive of the first half started from their own 7-yard line. Fortino found Hawkins for two big pass plays, one for 14 yards and another for 16 yards, to get Lewis & Clark into Willamette territory for just the second time in the game. The Pios had to punt three plays later.

Willamette added one more touchdown on an 11-play, 83-yard drive capped off by Jones' third TD reception of the quarter, this time from four yards out.

In all, Willamette scored on six straight possessions, including the first two of the second half. Jones caught a 27-yard touchdown with 10:21 left in the third quarter and Tanner Stevens had a 48-yard touchdown run with 6:20 remaining in the same period.

Fortino finished the game 16 of 29 for 156 yards and an interception, with Machado going 4 of 9 for 48 yards and a touchdown. While Hawkins only gained 12 yards on 10 rushes, he did have a career-high 44 yards receiving.

Appleton was the Pios' leading receiver with 64 yards on four catches. Johnson finished with two receptions for 27 yards and the TD. Lewis & Clark had 204 passing yards to Willamette's 208.

Knowlton passed for 202 yards and the four touchdowns, going 16 for 22 in the game. Daniel Abdie was the closest receiver to Jones' numbers, finishing with three receptions for 26 yards.

The Pioneers return to Griswold Stadium in Portland for Senior Day in the home finale next Saturday against Pacific Lutheran.

Other Northwest Conference Scores - Saturday

Puget Sound 6, Pacific Lutheran 2
Whitworth 50, Pacific 33
Linfield 24, George Fox 0