TYLERTOWN &8212; The Cathedral Green Wave clinched a spot in the MHSAA Class A playoffs with a 26-14 win over Salem Thursday night.

The Green Wave committed no turnovers and no penalties on the night, and Patrick McDonough tossed four touchdown passes to key the win.

Still, coaches felt the team wasn&8217;t sharp for much of the game, highlighted by the 37 yards rushing Cathedral gained as a team.

&8220;We came out flat,&8221; said assistant coach Craig Beesley. &8220;This is the second week in a row we&8217;ve come out flat like that. Despite that, we did get the win and now we&8217;re in the playoffs.&8221;

Cathedral jumped out to a 19-0 lead midway through the second quarter on two McDonough touchdown passes to Braxton Fondren and another to Daniel Jenkins.

Salem got on the board with less than a minute remaining in the first half when Garreth Murphy scored on a two-yard run.

After a scoreless third quarter, Murphy pulled Salem to within five with a seven-yard pass to Aaron Gaines and a two-point conversion run.

Cathedral sealed the win with 1:14 remaining with a 14-yard pass from McDonough to Jenkins. Harrison Burns added the PAT to provide the final points.

McDonough was 14-of-30 passing for 176 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. Jenkins caught four passes for 87 yards.

Cathedral will take on Bogue Chitto at home next week in a key region game.