1987 North Hills Indians #1 USAToday High School Football Team Sign

Historical sign commemorating the 1987 North Hills Indians Football Team that went undefeated and gained recognition as the best high school football team in the nation. These signs were put up at various points in Ross Township. One of them has since found a permanent home in the Heizin History Centers Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum.  

About The 1987 USAToday's #1 North Hills High School Football Team

Named the number one team in the country by USA Today during the preseason, the North Hills Indians went 13-0 for the 1987 season, outscoring their opponents 435-20. 11 of those 13 games were shutouts.

What a lot of folks don't recall is that the 20 points given up by the 1987 North Hills Indians were given up by the second-teamers. The first team was never scored upon.

That is in itself an amazing accomplishment especially given the greatness of WPIAL Quad-A football in the 1980s. 

1987 North Hills Indians Football Season Highlights 

• Head Coach Jack McCurry went on to be named National High School Coach of the Year that season. 
• The home field of the Indians was Martorelli Stadium in Ross Township. 
• The Indians pounded Central Catholic 36-0 and stomped North Allegheny 28-0 in the WPIAL AAAA playoffs to advance to the championship game against Mt. Lebanon.
• North Hills crowned their undefeated season with a 21-0 drubbing of the Mt. Lebo Blue Devils.
• The North Hills Indians defended USA Today's #1 ranking from start to finish.
• Senior tight end/linebacker Eric Renkey garnered Parade All-American recognition. 

In 1999 when the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette asked 125 WPIAL coaches to name the best team of the past 25 years and no other team came close. More recently the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review counted the 1987 Indians among the Top Ten teams of the first 100 years of WPIAL football.

Today this sign found a permanent home at the Heinz History Center in downtown Pittsburgh. 

1987 North Hills Indians Starters

Eric Renkey, Pat Carey, Chris Cisar, T.J. Schmitt, Brian Kagle, Gary Gorajewski, Sam Spade, Jim Lash, Dave Helon, Mark Laskey, Mark Ellermeyer, Jason Hoffman, Tom Cohen, Marty Stanton, Greg Morris, Duane Hitchcock, and Doug Dickman.

Key Players From The 1987 North Hills Football Team in the North Hills School District Sports Hall of Fame

• Daune Hitchcock - Inducted in 2022, Duane was a junior running back and the leading rusher on the 1987 North Hills football team which was No. 1 in the country.  Duane received all-conference and all-state awards and was selected to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fabulous 22 football team. Duane played college ball at Slippery Rock University where he played both running back and wide receiver.
• Greg Morris - Starting QB, 2011
• Gary Gorajewksi - Staring Lineman, Inducted in 2007, Played college ball at Pitt
• Brian Kagle - Lineman, Inducted in 2007
• Pat Carey - DB, RB, Inducted in 2004, Played college ball at James Madison University
• Chris Cisar - Safety, WR, Inducted in 2003, Played college ball at Penn St. 
• Eric Renkey - Lineman, LB, Inducted in 2001, Parade All-American, played college ball at Penn St. 

Learn More about the 1987 North Hills Indians Football Team

• Senator John Heinz History Center article - Sign of Greatness
• Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum
• North Hills School District - Sports Hall of Fame