A Cullman player reacts shortly after Pelham's 2-0 win on Saturday.

HUNTSVILLE — Cullman’s bid for a second straight state championship came undone at the hands of Pelham on Saturday afternoon.

The fifth-ranked Bearcats fell short versus the No. 1 Panthers at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, finishing their season with a Red Map trophy and a 17-6-1 record following a 2-0 defeat in the Class 6A title match.

Pelham (22-6-1) avenged last season’s 2-0 semifinal loss to the Black and Gold en route to winning its first state crown in program history.

Cullman coach Casey Harbin could only tip his cap after the outcome.

“They played the better game,” he said. “We never established our rhythm, and that’s what killed us. We were happy to get here. Disappointed with how we played, but it’s not disappointing getting here when no one else thought you would. We’ll think back on it and start looking at next season as soon as we can.”

The teams battled to a scoreless tie midway through the first half before the Panthers struck on a goal from Armando Valencia, whose ball from near midfield sailed through the air and rode the wind up out of the reach of goalkeeper Jaron Potter for a 1-0 advantage.

Pelham took the momentum of the unlikely score into halftime and didn’t allow the Black and Gold’s adjustments at the break to come to fruition over the final 40 minutes of action.

“We just didn’t have a lot of ball possession,” junior Miguel Tizapa said. “When we have that, we get more chances to score. We didn’t switch the ball enough, either, and we played too slow. It’s frustrating, but we kept trying our best. We just couldn’t get to them today.”

The Panthers’ second score came via an own goal with less than 14 minutes remaining on the clock, essentially squashing any chances of a Bearcat comeback.

“It’s painful to lose on two goals that probably shouldn’t have been goals,” Harbin said. “But I can’t really say much about the wind after last year.”

Although the loss stings now, both Harbin and Tizapa fully expect to return to Huntsville next May. Cullman brings back a handful of talented players from a group that downed No. 2 Fort Payne, No. 9 Florence, No. 7 Albertville and No. 10 Carver over the past two weeks just to claim a spot in the championship match.

“I was telling them it reminded me of our loss to Fort Payne two years ago,” Harbin said. “It became our deciding factor that we were going to change things. When we had the Blue Map last year, we looked back to that moment. Hopefully this will be our moment for next year. We can reload and be back.”

Added Tizapa: “We’ve got to learn from this and come back stronger. We’ll make the best of it.”