RIMERSBURG — The Union football team gathered in a circle at midfield.

A voice carried out of the mass and into the misty and cold air.

“Let’s be the team that makes history next week!”

The Golden Knights will get a chance at history — and their first-ever playoff win — thanks to a 30-22 win over Moniteau Friday night.

That victory, coupled with a Ridgway win over Cameron County, gave Union (5-5) the eighth and final spot in the District 9 Class A playoff next week.

The Golden Knights’ opponent? Ridgway, a team they beat, 32-7, two weeks ago.

“It means the world to us right now,” said senior wide receiver and defensive back Chet Carmichael, who scored three touchdowns. “That’s all we’re going to be thinking about this week. We beat Ridgway the first time, and we know they are going to make some adjustments. We hope we’ll have a good game like we did last time.”

Carmichael certainly had a good game against Moniteau.

He caught a pass down the sideline in stride from Lane Cicciarelli and raced 90 yards for a touchdown that put the Golden Knights up 8-0.

After Moniteau (5-5) tied the game at 8-8 on a 2-yard run by Cody Skiver, Carmichael took the ensuing kickoff at the 24, found a seem and raced 76 yards for a TD that put Union back up by eight at 16-8.

When Moniteau again scored in the third quarter on a 5-yard run by Derek Boben to close the gap to 16-14, Carmichael took a reverse and weaved his way through the Warrior defense for 55 yards and a score.

The third straight successful 2-point conversion pass from Cicciarelli to a receiver gave the Golden Knights a 24-14 lead.

“To answer their touchdown with a kickoff return by Chet — you don’t kick to Chet Carmichael,” said Union coach Dave Louder. “The other 10 guys did a great job blocking, and he just beat people outside. That’s what you expect from a senior on Senior Night.”

Union needed all of Carmichael’s scores against a feisty Moniteau team that played the entire second half without its starting quarterback, Skiver.

The senior injured his right knee with just a few second left on the clock in the second quarter. He came out and was seen running gingerly on the sideline at the start of the third quarter, but didn’t return.

“Losing Cody in the second quarter definitely hurt us,” said Moniteau coach Wade Vogan. “We had to put a new quarterback in and make some adjustments depth-wise. Hopefully he can jump back in and get back to practice on Monday.”

Union’s defense came up with three big plays to thwart Moniteau drives in the first half.

Cole Morris picked off two Skiver passes inside the Union 5 and Cicciarelli also had an interception inside the Golden Knights’ 10.

The interceptions offset three lost fumbles by Union in the soggy conditions, including one on the opening kickoff of the game.

“It’s discouraging,” Vogan said. “But as a coach, I made the call (to throw). I live and die by that. Three turnovers in the red zone is never going to win you a ballgame. But it was a good call at the time. We just didn’t make the play.”

Union opened up a 30-14 lead on a 39-yard pass from Cicciarelli to Morris.

But Moniteau responded with a 30-yard hookup from Boben to Josh McBride. Boben’s conversion run made it a one-score game.

Moniteau had one final drive stopped when Carmichael swatted away a pass on a fourth-and-9 play.

“They made more plays today than we did,” Vogan said. “Speed kills, guys. Speed kills. They threw everything at us. Hats off to them.”

Cicciarelli finished 5-of-9 passing for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Union also rushed for 154 yards as a team.

McBride was the workhorse for Moniteau with 118 yards on 22 carries.

Moniteau will take on St. Marys in a Class AA semifinal next week.

St. Marys beat Moniteau last week, 35-6.

“First and foremost, we can’t start off down 21-0 ... against St. Marys,” Vogan said. “It’s hard for us to play from behind. Hopefully we can come out and play good defense and stop them.”

And Union is looking to make history with a thin roster.

“The bond we have is like no other,” Carmichael said. “This school is completely different. We have 30 kids in each grade. Everyone knows each other. Everyone is friends with each other, and that carries over onto the field. We’re all brothers.”