GROVE CITY - It seems like an eon ago.

During Week 1 Sept. 3., Grove City traveled to Erie to take on Harbor Creek.

Now, 10 weeks and a whole lot of football later, the Eagles go Erie again to play the Huskies at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for much higher stakes than a simple season opener.

This time, the District 10 Class AA title is at on the line. This time, a date with the District 9 winner in the PIAA playoffs is the prize.

"We played them, so we have a pretty good idea of just how good they are. And they are good," said Harbor Creek coach Dan Budziszewski. "We're familiar with them. But on the other side of the coin, they are familiar with us."

But that game, a 34-21 win by the Huskies, was months ago. Harbor Creek has a new quarterback in Casey Dolan and Grove City has a reborn defense and an offense that didn't punt against North East last week in an exciting 30-27 overtime victory.

"The reality of getting back to preparing for Harbor Creek has set in," said Grove City coach Jeff Bell. "They are a lot better than what they were, and hopefully, we're a lot better."

In that first meeting, Grove City led 14-7 at halftime before coughing up 27 points.

In the eight games after that one, Grove City gave up just 35 points up to the playoff game against North East.

Harbor Creek (9-1) beat Greenville 34-7 to advance to the district title game.

The Huskies only loss came against North East, 8-0. They run a very similar offense to the Grape Pickers, led by tailback Stephen Blose, who has gained more than 1,300 yards this season.

His partner in crime, Dave Murzynski, is nearly the 1,000-yard rushing mark as well.

"They run a lot of power-I," Bell said. "It does help facing a similar offense the week before. Some of the plays they run are very similar."

But Bell isn't getting giddy yet. The Eagles did let North East running back Zac Kuchta score four touchdowns.

"We gave up too many points and yards," Bell said. "Maybe we can make some adjustments."

Budziszewski said his team is going to have its hands full against Grove City's offense.

In the September meeting, Jesse Alfreno scored on an 80-yard run and an 89-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jim Jaskowak. Budziszewski hasn't forgotten.

"Alfreno had two long plays on us," Budziszewski said. "I was real impressed with their quarterback. From what I saw, he is very, very accurate. They are a handful."

The same could be said for Harbor Creek.

Blose racked up his yards despite missing some time at the end of the season with an assortment of bumps and bruises.

Harbor Creek's defense also has played well, despite being undersized.

That size difference concerns Budziszewski.

"We are giving up a lot of size up front," the coach said. "But we've been able to use our speed and our ability to run to the ball to overcome that this season."

Grove City has some beef in center Tony Aloisio, a 355-pound behemoth at center, and 250-pound Kent Uber.

But Harbor Creek is used to the role as the underdog, the team being slighted.

Two years ago, the Huskies were 8-1 but failed to make the playoffs. This year, not many pundits were sure just how their season would shake out.

"I think we were in the situation where some people didn't expect us to be here," Budziszewski said. "I'm sure no one expected us to have our way with Greenville."

Grove City, on the other hand, was a team many pointed to as a team that could get to the District 10 title game.

An 0-2 start, began by that collapse against Harbor Creek, put the Eagles in desperation midway through September.

The Eagles were particularly desperate against North East, overcoming five turnovers to win. Bell thinks that will be an advantage.

"You're talking about 16- and 17-year-old boys," Bell said. "I'd rather be in the position we are in. I've been coaching for a long time and no matter what you tell your kids, they read the papers and they will believe what they want to believe."