It wasn't the only game in town.

But it was close.

When Moniteau's varsity football team traveled to Keystone High School on Sept. 14, 2001, the Warriors participated in one of only two games played on the western side of Pennsylvania that night.

The other was Greenville-Franklin.

All other games were called off as the nation mourned the lives lost to the terrorist attacks three days earlier.

“I was sitting in math class at the time of the attack,” said Patrick Rumbaugh, the Warriors' junior quarterback that season. “I had heard that a plane hit a building in New York, but I imagined it was a small plane off course or something.

“When I saw it was a big airliner, then a second one hit ... we were in trouble.”

Football was on the minds of no one that day.

But Moniteau's team returned to practice Wednesday after then-athletic director Jim Metz talked with the Keystone athletic director. They decided to move forward with their scheduled game that Friday.

The late Tom Kidder was Moniteau's head football coach at that time. Cecil Blauser, a United States Navy veteran, was an assistant on the staff.

“The game was secondary,” Blauser said. “It was about our country. I thought we were being patriotic by playing the game.

“Yes, we mourned. But we stood together. The terrorists were not going to take away our way of life. A statement was made that night.”

Fellow assistant coach Ken Flick agreed.

“There was a display of national pride in that stadium,” Flick said. “We were going to be on the field. We weren't going to give in to fear.”

Senior lineman Vittorio DeBacco said the players were on board with going ahead with the game.

“I knew the world had changed,” he said. “But I remember how badly we all wanted to play football. We had to keep going. It just made sense to play.

“We needed that outlet.”

Every person coming through the gates that night received a small American flag. During a lengthy pregame ceremony, fans held lit candles in the stands.

Players, coaches, cheerleaders, drill team and band members from both teams stood in a formation that formed the letters USA as they interlocked arms, holding candles as well.

Police officers, firemen, emergency medical workers and other first responders were among those in formation as well.

The national anthem and “America the Beautiful” were played.

A long moment of silence was observed.

“I had a broken foot and didn't play that season,” sophomore running back Steve Saul recalled. “But I remember hobbling out there on crutches, Keystone players standing on both sides of me.

“That ceremony was pretty powerful.”

Rob Flick, a sophomore lineman for Moniteau that year, said the pregame events are “seared into my memory forever.

“I mean, we all lived history that week. The world wasn't going to be the same.”

Senior guard-linebacker Jason Frederick insists that pregame ceremony changed the direction of his life. He works in law enforcement in Charleston, S.C., today.

“I spent 12 years on the SWAT team,” Frederick said. “It was because of that night.

“I was a kid. At the time, football was everything to me. I went up there focused on the game. That ceremony put everything in perspective for me.

“It hit me ... 3,000 people or so just got killed. My entire attitude changed. I wanted to do something about it. I wanted to make a difference,” Frederick added. “I still loved football, but that night, I knew what I wanted to be.”

He went on to college as a criminal justice major.

Rumbaugh pointed out that both teams wore an American flag sticker on the back of their helmets.

“Every team on every level did that after and still do it to this day, because of 9/11,” Rumbaugh said.

Moniteau lost the game to Keystone that night, 32-12. It was the Warriors' first loss of the season.

Saul said both communities won something much bigger.

“Sports is a great way to bring people together and I think that night might have brought a brief moment of normalcy to everyone at that time,” he said.