MOUNT OLIVE &8212; The Cathedral Green Wave knew they would need a perfect game to take seventh-ranked Mount Olive, and they nearly got it in pushing the Pirates to the limit in a 36-21 loss.

Heading into the game, Cathedral head coach Ken Beesley said the Green Wave would have to shut down Pirate running back Jason McNair.

That didn&8217;t quite happen.

McNair rushed 35 times for 318 yards and two touchdowns to lead Mount Olive to victory.

Patrick McDonough had another solid game for Cathedral with 171 yards on 14-of-31 passing with a touchdown.

After falling behind 6-0 early, Cathedral took a 14-6 lead on touchdown runs of 19 yards by McDonough and 13 yards by Braxton Fondren. Harrison Burns added both extra points to give the Green Wave a 14-6 lead first quarter lead.

That lead held until 16 seconds remained in the first half, when McNair got a one-yard touchdown run to cut the Green Wave lead to 14-12 at halftime.

The momentum shifted in a big way with exactly nine minutes remaining in the third quarter, when Mount Olive quarterback Julius McNair tossed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Diarian Keller on a fourth-and-15 play to give the Pirates the lead. Jason McNair added the two point conversion.

&8220;The first drive of the second half was the turning point of the game,&8221; said Cathedral assistant Craig Beesley. &8220;We had them fourth-and-15 and they completed a touchdown pass. That play changed the game, because not only did they score, they took the lead.&8221;

Julius McNair struck again less than five minutes later when he hooked up with Steve McNair Jr. for a two-yard touchdown pass. The two hooked up again for the two-point conversion to give Mount Olive a 28-14 lead.

The Green Wave answered with a 38-yard touchdown pass from McDonough to Forrest White with 11:37 remaining in the game. Burns&8217; extra-point brought Cathedral within a touchdown.

The Green Wave were unable to get the ball back for a serious challenge, however, and Jason McNair added another touchdown run &8212; this one from 59 yards &8212; with 31 seconds remaining to seal the win.

&8220;We knew going into it that it was going to be hard to shut them down,&8221; Beesley said. &8220;We played good, we played hard. We just couldn&8217;t stop McNair.&8221;

The loss denied Ken Beesley his 200th win for at least one more week.

Craig Beesley said the coaching staff was proud of the team&8217;s effort.

&8220;We told them that they brought everything they had with them and played a great game,&8221; he said. &8220;We told them we know how good they can play now and we expect that from them the whole year.&8221;

Cathedral will host Enterprise next week at 7 p.m.