Friday's football game between Western Pennsylvania high schools Johnstown and Westmont Hilltop will provide a blast from the past for local fans and movie buffs alike.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the movie "All the Right Moves," the two high schools will don the jerseys of their fictionalized counterparts and play at the stadium where the movie's climax was filmed.
The movie stars Tom Cruise as a skilled defensive back looking to use his talent to get him out of the dying mill town, Ampipe. Johnston is the real life Ampipe, while Westmont Hilltop was re-named Walnut Heights in the film.
The movie was filmed in Johnston, and lots of high school players were used as extras.
"What a great way to celebrate the movie than to play a game to honor those two teams," said Westmont athletic director Tom Callihan, who appeared as an Ampipe player in the movie. "We’ve reached out to people who have been in the movie. The players who appeared in the movie are going to show up."
Johnstown High coach Tony Penna Jr. told the Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown that even 30 years later, many of the themes portrayed by the movie in the blue collar town of Johnston have remained unchanged.
“A lot of the story lines have stayed the same 30 years later,” Penna Jr. said. “A lot of these kids are trying to not necessarily find a way out of Johnstown, but they’re trying to find a way into college through football.”
(H/T to Yardbarker)
