Greater Johnstown High School remakes ‘All the Right Moves’ movie

Shaw Sports Turf installed new synthetic turf in Greater Johnstown (Pa.) High School’s football field at Trojan Stadium last June. In September, the Johnstown Trojans began hosting football games on their new field, turning their second home game of the season against longtime rival Westmont Hilltop High School into a remake of the 1983 Tom Cruise movie All the Right Moves, which was filmed on the field nearly 30 years ago.

More than 4,500 fans converged on the Trojan Stadium to watch and participate in paying homage to All the Right Moves, turning an ordinary football game into a community-wide event with an entertainment twist. As part of the reenactment of the movie, the Greater Johnstown High School football team sported Ampipe Bulldogs black-and-gold uniforms similar to those Cruise’s character donned in All the Right Moves. Westmont Hilltop dressed in white and red jerseys to assume the role of Walnut Heights.

The public address announcer referred to the teams as Ampipe and Walnut Heights throughout the game and fans showed their spirit by wearing commemorative T-shirts. The Greater Johnstown Trojans (or Ampipe Bulldogs) pulled out the win against visiting Westmont Hilltop (or Walnut Heights) 20-17.

The 20th Century Fox movie starred Cruise, Lea Thompson and Craig T. Nelson and featured dozens of local football players, coaches, cheerleaders, band members and students. More than 10,000 Johnstown residents filled the stadium nearly 30 years ago during filming of the big game for the movie.

Shaw Sports Turf completed the 86,826-sq.-ft. turf installation with its PowerBlade HP+ product at Trojan Stadium in early summer of last year. The PowerBlade HP+ turf system features a 2.25-in. pile height and an infill mixture of sand and rubber, and is specifically engineered for performance needs where athlete-surface and ball-surface interactions are critical.