GLENNS FERRY — The journey began a year ago, when a young crop of juniors went 3-7 but by the end of the year had matured into asolid football team.

It ended Friday night, as the Glenns Ferry Pilots concluded their season with a third-place Class 2A state trophy after getting beat by defending state champion Parma 49-6 in the semifinals.

While undoubtedly they would have enjoyed playing another week, the Pilots walked off the field at Glenns Ferry High School with their heads held high.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” said Glenns Ferry coach Rob Spriggs. “Third in the state is respectable and we’re proud of how successful we were this year.”

There wasn’t much Glenns Ferry (8-3) could do against the undefeated Panthers (10-0), who have recorded five shutouts this season and allowed just 3.5 points per game.

On the contrary, Parma seemed to do no wrong in piling up 585 yards of offense. Parma wide receiver Devin Erickson summed it up best: “Everything seemed to go right.”

It started on the opening kickoff, which Glenns Ferry fumbled over to Parma. One play later, Erickson was in the end zone with a 30-yard pass from Trevor Kramer and the Panthers were up by a touchdown just 19 seconds into the game.

Glenns Ferry answered, however, as Michael Crane raced 75 yards for a touchdown on the Pilots’ next play from scrimmage.

“After Crane got loose the first play, we realized this kid is for real. We knew that, but he is fast, and you can’t mimic that in practice,” said Parma coach Greg Asbury. “After that, we adjusted and kept him in front of us.”

After Crane’s big run, Glenns Ferry was held to just 104 yards the rest of the night.

“We ran up against a superior team. They were solid all the way around,” Spriggs said. “There wasn’t really a weak spot that we could exploit. We just got outplayed tonight.”

Even when something did go right for the Pilots, it ended up blowing up in their faces. In the first quarter, Gabe Arevelo recovered a Parma fumble on the 3-yard line as the Pantherswere headed in to score. But Parma’s defense blew up the next play in the backfield and earned asafety.

With less than a minute to go in the half, Glenns Ferry’s defense forced a turnover on downs in the red zone, but one play later Parma’s Tyler Ford intercepted Pilot quarterback Philip Owsley and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown to put the Panthers up 28-6 at halftime.

“It all starts with the offensive and defensive lines,” said Asbury. “Offensively our line got after it and created some huge holes and our backs ran hard. Trevor Kramer did a nice job and made plays when he had to.”

Parma scored on its first two possessions of the third quarter to put the game away. The Panthers return to the Class 2A state championship and will face the winner of today’s Declo vs. New Plymouth semifinal game, which kicks off at 1 p.m. at New Plymouth.

Parma 49, Glenns Ferry 6

Parma 15 13 14 7 – 49

Glenns Ferry 6 0 0 0 – 6

First quarter

Parma – Devin Erickson 30 pass from Trevor Kramer (pass failed) 11:41

Glenns Ferry – Michael Crane 75 run (kick failed) 11:25

P – Safety 7:44

P – Cesar Jacobo 1 run (Erickson kick) 3:38

Second quarter

P – Kramer 7 run (kick failed) 4:55

P – Tyler Ford 23 interception return (Erickson kick) 0:30

Third quarter

P – Lance Johnson 6 run (Erickson kick) 7:58

P – Randy Riley 80 pass from Kramer (Erickson kick) 4:01

Fourth quarter

P – Scott Jensen 5 run (Jacobo kick) 2:04