Whatever happened to friendly neighbors?

That idea disappeared at the first snap of the game.

North Hills quarterback Taylor Schmidt ran for a 36-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage, and North Hills never looked back as the Indians beat Perry, 28-7, Friday night at North Hills' Martorelli Stadium.

It was the first meeting between the two schools, which sit so close to one another that the drive from Perry Traditional Academy to Martorelli Stadium takes less time than the drive from North Hills.

But North Hills coach Jack McCurry said the Indians wanted to let the Commodores know from the outset that they would be less than hospitable to their neighbors on the North Side.

"We wanted to set the tone early," McCurry said. "We didn't want to get in a track meet early with them, but we wanted to be physical, and I thought we did that early running the ball."

The Indians had 284 yards rushing. The Commodores had 77. North Hills running back Isaiah Faulk scored two touchdowns and had 63 yards rushing to lead North Hills (1-0) in a non-conference game against Perry (0-1), the Post-Gazette's No. 1 City League team.

"We like to pound, pound it so the defense bites on it and we like to get it in there as soon as possible," Faulk said.

Schmidt added 92 yards rushing and was 3 of 5 passing for 38 yards.

Perry coach Bill Gallagher said he knew stopping the Indians' running attack would be challenging, especially considering North Hills returned five starting offensive linemen from last season. Still, he said, the Commodores were plagued by mistakes.

"We made some physical errors," he said. "We didn't make mental errors. We were in the right place, we just didn't tackle as well as we should have."

North Hills took charge early, marching the ball downfield with ease after taking the opening kickoff. The Indians ran six plays, all runs and all for positive yardage, and Faulk capped the 65-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to give North Hills a 7-0 lead.

The Indians doubled that lead in the second quarter when Faulk outsprinted Perry's linebacker corps on a sweep left to score a 6-yard touchdown run.

"On the first touchdown, I just figured I've got to punch it in just to give the momentum to the team," Faulk said. "It was tough, but I got it. The second touchdown, just ran to daylight."

The North Hills defense added to its scoring total late in the second quarter. Perry quarterback Greg McGhee rolled to the left side of the pocket to avoid pressure, and just as he cocked his arm back to throw, North Hills linebacker Tom Weeden stripped the ball. Indians linebacker Zach Bopp scooped up the ball at Perry's 12-yard line and ran it in to give the Indians a 21-0 halftime lead.

Though North Hills never had to punt in the first half, the damage could have been worse for the Commodores -- North Hills turned over the ball on downs twice inside Perry's 20-yard line.

Meanwhile, Perry's offense struggled. The Commodores managed just 12 yards rushing and 38 yards passing in the first half and failed to move the ball past the 50-yard line before halftime.

Perry's offense was sharper in the second half, and twice had goal-to-go situations inside North Hills' 1-yard line. Both times, they were denied.

"That's great defense," McCurry said. "I'm very happy with that."

The shutout was finally broken with 1:44 remaining in the game when McGhee and Devin Ghafoor connected for a 43-yard touchdown pass.

McGhee finished 9 of 23 for 126 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also had all but one of Perry's positive rushing yards.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.