Union coach Tom Kidder stood before his team earlier in the week and asked a simple question.

He got a simple answer.

He asked his team, banged up after a 63-7 loss to Karns City, if it wanted to host Lakeview at 7 p.m. Friday in the final game of a long, disappointing season. The response was emphatic.

"I think they were a little offended I even asked," Kidder said. "It was very encouraging, yes. These guys still want to play."

Union (0-9) typically hasn't played a 10th game - and after being outscored by more than 400 points this season, saying no would be understandable. But this season, Union made an arrangement with Lakeview to play a final game if Lakeview missed the playoffs.

Lakeview (6-3) just missed making the District 10, Class A postseason, setting the stage for the game Friday.

Two of Lakeview's three losses came to the two teams that did make the playoffs - Sharpsville and Saegertown.

"We are disappointed," said Lakeview coach Dan York. "They know they played bad in one or two games that cost us."

Lakeview is a run-heavy, option team. Junior quarterback Tommy Lewis has thrown for just 200 yards this season.

Senior running back Danny Van Dyke leads the team with nearly 1,700 yards rushing.

"They run the ball to the middle of the field an awful lot," Kidder said. "They pretty much run the way they line up and throw very few passes. We have to try to stop the run the best we can."

Union has had trouble stopping most teams this season. The only team they slowed down was Kennedy Catholic two weeks ago.

Karns City had success running the ball against Union's very young defense.

The Golden Knights will start two freshmen at cornerback and only have two seniors on the roster.

"This is a pretty good team," Kidder said of Lakeview. "They have some weaknesses, and hopefully we can take advantage of some of them."

Union's offense, which struggled mightily at the beginning of the season, has settled down and shown signs of life.

The offense is led by junior running back Colton Davis, who has rushed for 515 yards on 95 carries and two touchdowns this season. Union's passing game has also improved behind sophomore quarterback Josh Holden, who has found sophomore receiver Brett Moore for some big plays lately.

Union scrimmaged Lakeview in August and held its own.

"Coming out of our first scrimmage, we were upbeat," Kidder said. "Then we lost a couple of nice ballplayers."

Union has only 18 players on its active roster going into the game.

But Kidder is encouraged by the play of his plethora of underclassmen and believes with an off-season devoted to getting stronger, his team can show marked improvement next season.

York has also noticed the change in Union.

"When you have the season like they are having, you just look for something that works," York said. "That's what they have been doing. I know they are going to come out and give their best effort."