GREENVILLE — A year ago in the throws of disappointment, Qadir Muhammad made his coach a promise.

“We're going to come back,” Muhammad said to Grove City High football coach Sam Mowrey, “and we're going to win it.”

Muhammad's words were prophetic. A year later, on the same field where the Eagles lost to Meadville in the District 10 5A championship game, they returned, this time beating the Bulldogs 35-14 Saturday night to win their first district crown since 2011.

“Right when we lost this game last year, Qadir came over to me and said we'll be back here next year and we're going to win it,” Mowrey said. “We talked about that quite a bit leading up to this. Just so proud of them. These kids have worked so hard for this.”

Muhammad personally made good on his prediction.

The tight end caught touchdown passes of 70 and 41 yards in the second quarter to give Grove City a 27-7 lead at the half.

Muhammad had a 58-yard touchdown wiped out by an illegal formation call earlier in the second quarter.

Grove City (11-0) went back to that play for the 70-yard score.

“We just worked on that in practice all week,” Muhammad said. “We knew it was going to be open and I just made the most of the opportunity.”

Muhammad has sort of been a forgotten man in the loaded Grove City offense.

He wasn't forgotten Saturday.

“It's just the next man up all the time,” Muhammad said. “As long as everyone does their job, we're going to win and that's what we did.”

Mowrey said the Eagles saw the big-play capabilities of those two calls while watching film.

When Grove City saw those particular looks from Meadville (8-4), they pulled the trigger.

The second Muhammad touchdown came on a wheel route down the left sideline came with just 12 seconds left in the first half.

“That was just a huge play because there was time running out in the half and we'd stalled a little bit,” Mowrey said. “To get that last touchdown was just huge.

“Qadir — that's one of the things that's so special about this group,” Mowrey added. “We have a lot of weapons and Qadir is sort of the quiet one on offense. But he's just a great athlete and tonight was hit night to step up.”

Trey Adams wasn't quiet.

The big Grove City back, who runs like former Tampa Bay fullback Mike Alstott, rumbled for 105 yards on 25 carries and scored on a pair of 1-yard runs.

Adams was big in short-yardage situations for the Eagles.

The Grove City defense was also loud.

Meadville running back Isaiah Manning, who had gained more than 2,300 yards this season, was held in check most of the night.

He did bust out on a 49-yard run to set up Meadville's second touchdown early in the third quarter, but Manning was held to 159 yards on 27 carries.

Manning also scored on an 8-yard run in the first quarter a play after a bad snap on a punt set Meadville up inside the 10.

But the Bulldogs never got closer than a two-score game.

“We thought it was really important to get out quick and try to get up a couple of scores on them because we didn't feel like they were built to come from behind,” Mowrey said.

Grove City will play Hollidaysburg (7-3) at 7 p.m. Friday at Penns Manor High School.

“You're always led by your seniors and what's special about this group is the leadership from the seniors all they way down,” Mowrey said. “These seniors have been through rough seasons, but they kept on working and kept on battling.”

Grove City 7 20 0 8 — 35

Meadville 7 0 7 0 — 14

First Quarter

GC — Trey Adams 1 run (Aidan Reed kick), 10:30

M — Isaiah Manning 8 run (Julius Ream kick), 3:28

Second Quarter

GC — Logan Lutz 16 pass from Brady Callahan (Reed kick), 11:46

GC — Qadir Muhammad 70 pass from Callahan (Reed kick), 3:17

GC — Muhammad 41 pass from Callahan (Reed kick), :12

Third Quarter

M — Ream 6 pass from Colin Kilburn (Ream kick), 8:42

Fourth Quarter

GC — Adams 1 run (Lutz run), 9:44

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Grove City, Trey Adams 25-105, Tyler Greer 5-33, Logan Lutz 9-21, Brady Callahan 6-7, TEAM 2-(-23). Meadville, Isaiah Manning 27-159, Landon Beck 3-46, De'Shawn Wofford 4-13, Julius Ream 5-4, Colin Kilburn 1-(-5)

Passing: Grove City, Brady Callahan, 14-17-228-0, Logan Lutz 1-1-31-0. Meadville, Colin Kilburn 8-13-83-1

Receiving: Grove City, Logan Lutz, 9-73, Qadir Muhammad 4-128, Brady Callahan 1-31, A.J. Miller 1-27. Meadville, De'Shawn Wofford 4-45, Julius Ream 4-38.