HERSHEY - Ninety days.

A lot has happened since the last Grove City High School football loss on Sept. 10.

The Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger was just another rookie quarterback and the backup to Tommy Maddox, George W. Bush was fighting off John Kerry for the presidency and the Red Sox still hadn't won a World Series.

The Eagles saw a lot of the world go by through the windows of their school and field house during that 90-day winning streak, when the cup was always half full, the coin always landed on heads and the wins piled up like the leaves falling from the trees.

But at the state championship game on Saturday in Hershey - the sweetest place in the world, at least for the four state champions - things turned a bit sour.

Lansdale Catholic 40, Grove City 17.

"I don't even remember the last time we lost," said Grove City senior quarterback Jim Jaskowak, mulling over his team's defeat. "I know it was against Greenville. It was a long time ago. I wish I didn't remember the feeling after a loss."

That feeling was absent for quite some time. While 140 other Class AA football teams in the state eventually lost, Grove City plugged away, past Thanksgiving and into the late fall chill of December.

"It's bittersweet to come this far and not finish through," said senior defensive tackle Kent Uber. "Still, to come this far is an amazing accomplishment. I'm sure next week, when we have our meetings, we'll think about what we've done and we'll have to pat ourselves on the back for how far we've come."

And the Eagles came far, both literally and figuratively.

They boarded busses Friday after a raucous sendoff at the school and made the 250-mile trek to Hershey. On the field, the journey was a bit more fraught with obstacles.

Grove City began the season 0-2 after a disappointing 2003 campaign. A 0-2 record in the restructured District 10, where only four teams make the playoffs, was almost an early deathblow.

The Eagles staved off elimination on a weekly basis - another loss would have surely ended their postseason hopes.

"That's been our story all year," Uber said. "Fighting back. We were 0-2. We fought back. Just getting into the playoffs was a fight. We've fought back all year."

Grove City rolled off seven straight wins - six by shutout. They were the "it" team. The squad no one wanted to see in the postseason.

The no ones almost got their wish. The Eagles were only added to the four-team playoff field in the 11th hour, beating out Fort LeBoeuf for the final spot.

In the playoffs, they won a game by blocking an extra point to keep the deficit at eight as time ticked away in the game and on their season. They then drove the field for a score and got the two-point conversion to tie it, and won it in overtime on a field goal.

To get to the state title game, Grove City won by the width of a piece of paper that wouldn't slide cleanly between the tip of the football and the yard stick for a first down on a fourth-down play. Two plays later, the Eagles scored the decisive touchdown and punched their ticket to the first state championship appearance in school history.

After the first loss in 90 days Saturday, the players had a difficult time grasping the context of their run.

"We're all pretty upset," said junior receiver Jesse Alfreno. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and we came out flat. I think it's going to take a little time, honestly. This loss pretty much puts a damper on things for now. Give it a week or so. We'll figure it out."

Grove City coach Jeff Bell had an emotional revelation after the game. With his team surrounding him in a circle, he realized the season was over all too soon. It hit him that he would have to say goodbye to a group that did so much against so much odds.

"That's the real tough thing on a day like today," Bell said. "It hit me when I was trying to talk to them that I'm not going to get the opportunity to coach some of those kids again. And that's hard."

Bell himself has been on quite a journey. Coming into the season, he had a nondescript 32-38 record at the school. Three years ago, his team won one game. A year before that, his team won two. He almost left coaching.

Standing on the Hersheypark Stadium field before the game made it all worthwhile.

"The whole playoff experience, these kids will have for the rest of their lives, I'll have for the rest of my life," Bell said. "You can't buy this. You can't buy your way into this game. It doesn't matter how much money you have, you can't get here unless you go through the ride, the journey, whatever you want to call it."

A 90-day journey the Eagles and their coach will never forget.