CRANBERRY TWP — There's a steep hill between some trees at Cranberry Township Community Park beyond the football practice field that P.J. Fulmore doesn't mind climbing.

Sure, it helps build endurance.

Fulmore wonders if it helps win championships too.

It was an interview the Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic senior running back saw with an Old Forge player that got his mind going.

The Trojans beat the Devils 15-14 in overtime, with Fulmore converting a 2-point conversion to give the Trojans their first PIAA football title.

“He said they must have run one more sprint than us,” Fulmore said. “When you think about it, what if we did take off one practice? We may not have won all those games.”

Hard work and tough play is what North Catholic prides itself on.

That's what propelled the Trojans to a 16-0 record and their first WPIAL and state titles.

The after effects carried over into summer.

North Catholic wants to bring the same effort in the school's first season since moving to Butler County. The Trojans will still play their home games at Stone Field in North Park.

“We definitely work hard. We do the speed training and have been working hard all season,” North Catholic coach Bob Ravenstahl said. “We've been working out three or four days a week. They work hard and we appreciate it. Kids buy into it and it's what we do.”

North Catholic had no problem selling its kids on an offensive motto.

Fast and nasty.

“That's how we've always been. We're an aggressive team,” senior wide receiver/corner back Brennan said Sefick, who caught four passes for 33 yards last season. “Offensively, we call it fast and nasty. Running the football a lot and a nasty offensive line. We are aggressive and like to go for it all.”

There will be plenty of play-makers returning to help move the ball.

North Catholic returns its top four leading rushers from last season, including Fulmore, who verbally committed to Duquesne.

Fulmore led the Trojans with 1,213 yards rushing and scored 14 touchdowns.

He also passed for 388 yards and three touchdowns.

“He's a phenomenal athlete,” Ravenstahl said. “If he's not the best player in the WPIAL, he's darn close to it.”

Senior Jerome Turner, who rushed for 1,151 and a team-high 24 touchdowns, senior quarterback Adam Sharlow (660 yards) and sophomore running back Mario Latronica (566) round out the top four.

Sharlow, who passed for 877 yards and three touchdowns, injured his knee in Week 8 against Neshannock and missed the rest of the season.

The offseason didn't do him any favors. At a football camp at Duquesne, Sharlow re-injured his knee doing a footwork drill.

“It gave me a lot of motivation. I want it a lot,” Sharlow said. “It made me want it even more because I didn't get the experience last year.”

North Catholic will be looking to fill in some holes on the offensive line. The Trojans will return two starters — Joe Sadler and Nick Nyman — from last year's line.

Ravenstahl thinks the younger players will be able to fill in the gaps.

“We have to find some lineman, offensive and defense and linebackers,” Ravenstahl said. “If we do that, we should have another successful season.”

Defensively, the Trojans limited their opponents to 102 points last season.

The Trojans worked hard all season to put themselves in a position to defend their title.

It made tough tasks like scaling hills a little easier to handle for Sefick.

“We've been in a lot of hard work here this summer and it's been very challenging,” he said.