Niners’ third quarterback riddles Bengals

SAN FRANCISCO – The third quarterback was the charm for the San Francisco 49ers.

Shaun Hill passed for 197 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in his first NFL start, and the San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-13 on Saturday night for just their second victory in 12 games.

Frank Gore rushed for a season-high 138 yards, and Darrell Jackson had a season-high eight catches for 86 yards in a surprisingly effective San Francisco (4-10) attack led by Hill, a six-year veteran backup who only threw his first NFL passes last week after Trent Dilfer got a concussion.

With Alex Smith also sidelined, Hill was the only quarterback left in San Francisco – and he improbably sparked the 49ers’ league-worst offense to the club’s first home victory since opening week. Hill went 21 of 28, hitting Vernon Davis with a precise TD pass 9 seconds before halftime and generally running the show with confidence.

Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer threw his 100th touchdown pass, a 52-yard strike to Chris Henry in the first half, to become the fifth-fastest passer in NFL history to reach the mark. Palmer passed for 252 yards, but last season’s Pro Bowl MVP couldn’t rally the Bengals (5-9) to a tying score – not after Chad Johnson dropped a difficult fourth-down catch in the end zone with 2:14 left.

Cincinnati, which hasn’t won consecutive games all season, is assured of its first losing record since 2002.