STATE COLLEGE - Defensive back Adam Rudolph held up a Hershey Kiss in his right hand and smiled proudly. Tackle Kent Uber proclaimed loudly, "We have one more game!" And Grove City High School football coach Jeff Bell sung the praises of thick bond paper, not the cheap, see-through kind.

It was all in the aftermath of the Eagles' improbable 21-17 win over Tyrone in the PIAA, Class AA semifinal at Memorial Field Saturday that launched Grove City into the state title game against Lansdale Catholic (13-1).

"I'm on the top of the world," Uber said. "It's amazing. To come out and play a great team like Tyrone and come out on top - it's amazing."

How Grove City punched its ticket to Hershey and the state title game, which will be played at noon this Saturday at HersheyPark Stadium, was just as amazing.

It was a paper-thin win – literally.

Trailing 17-14 and facing a fourth-and-1 at the Tyrone 17 with a little more than one minute remaining, Dan Wise took a handoff, bounced to his left and lunged forward before being dragged down. Officials brought out the sticks to measure, but even then it was too close to call.

Tyrone players celebrated at first, thinking Grove City was less than a chain-link short, but the line judge pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and tried to slide it between the tip of the football and the stick. When it didn't slide through cleanly, he signaled a first down for Grove City.

Two plays later, Wise rumbled into the end zone from 10 yards out for the decisive points.

"I think it was a note card," Bell said, laughing. "I think it was a little bit thicker than normal."

Wise, who struggled to maintain his emotions after the game, said he thought the worst after his fourth-down run.

"I didn't think I had it. I just didn't think I had it," Wise said, his voice cracking. "Then I looked down at the chain link and it was like not even a centimeter. I can't even describe what I was thinking."

"I just overheard a couple of people saying they never heard of them putting a piece of paper down to see if it was a first down," said Grove City quarterback Jim Jaskowak. "Through my mind, I was thinking, 'Oh, we didn't get the first down.'"

But the Eagles (11-2) did and had to hold off a late drive by Tyrone to earn their first trip to the state title game.

Tyrone (12-2) drove to the Grove City 39, but Rudolph stepped in front of receiver Ben Gummo for an interception to end the threat and send Grove City to its 11th straight win after an 0-2 start.

"They ran that play three other times that drive, it was just obvious they were going to run it again," Rudolph said. "It was the only way they could get yardage on us, so I told (the safety) to stay deep and I was going to break on one."

Grove City took the lead early on a 12-yard touchdown run by Jack Vallely, but the extra point was blocked.

It didn't take Tyrone long to respond.

Brice Mertiff stutter-stepped to his left, broke a tackle, and burst into the open field for a 51-yard touchdown run to give the Golden Eagles a 7-6 lead.

Mertiff finished with 126 yards on 19 carries. But most of his yardage came the hard way as Tyrone's offense, used to piling up points and yardage on its opponent, had to settle for gains in small chunks.

"That's what I asked the kids to do - make them work hard, come out and hit them," Bell said.

Uber, who had another double-digit tackle day - his fourth in four playoff games - said it was imperative for the Eagles' line to come out and establish itself.

"Come out hard, hit them, and let them know we're here," Uber said. "We needed to show them that they were in for a game for all four quarters."

Jaskowak led Grove City with 67 yards rushing and scored on a 9-yard run to give the Eagles the lead late in the first half. He also added the two-point conversion on a quarterback sneak as the Eagles lined up with just a center and two guards in the middle of the field and the rest of the formation lined up near each sideline.

Tyrone marched to the Grove City 5 in a two-minute drill attack after the Jaskowak score, but had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Gummo to head into the break down 14-10.

The Golden Eagles launched another long drive in the fourth quarter, covering 69 yards on 14 plays, capped by a 1-yard scoring run by quarterback Leonard Wilson, to give Tyrone a 17-14 lead with five minutes remaining in the game. The drive chewed up more the seven minutes.

"There was no panic," Jaskowak said. "We had five minutes to go do it."

Now Grove City will head to Hershey to try to put a capper on a storybook season.

The Eagles started 0-2, won seven straight, but nearly didn't qualify for the playoffs, picked for the four-team District 10 field in the final hour. Grove City then needed to block and extra point against North East, drive the field and score, get a two-point conversion and then win in overtime to advance past the first round of the playoffs.

And Saturday they won the "Paper Game."

"These kids just refused to lose today," Bell said. "I told the coaches, 'They're ready to play and they're not going to lose. This isn't going to be their last game.'

"Every week, they make a believer out of me. I can't believe it. I'm so proud of them. I'm so proud of my coaches and players, and here we are. We're going to Hershey."