[10] Hackensack High School's graduates date from the 1880s, and include Warren Terhune[11] and William J.

[18] The Hackensack High School Comets[2] compete in the Big North Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Bergen and Passaic counties, and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).

[23] The football team competes in the Freedom Red division of the North Jersey Super Football Conference, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league.

[29] The ball commemorating this feat is kept in the trophy case in the gym named for that team's captain, Howard Bollerman Sr. (later principal of Hackensack High School).

[30] Chet Forte led the 1952 team to the Group III title with a 74–59 win against Princeton in the championship game.

[37] The field hockey team won the North I Group IV state sectional title in 1980 and 1997.

[39] The girls volleyball team won the Group IV state championship in 1984 (defeating runner-up Fair Lawn High School in the final match of the playoff tournament) and 2000 (vs. Eastern Regional High School).

[41] The girls track team won the Group IV indoor state championship in 1987 (as co-champion).

[47][48] A fourth consecutive win in the Borth I Group IV finals against North Bergen in 1996, this time by a score of 7–6, gave the team a 10–1 record for the year.

[50] The 2000 team finished the season with a record of 12–0 after defeating Teaneck High School by a score of 21–12 in the North I Group IV championship game at Rutgers Stadium.

[54] Hackensack turned to Tom DellaTorre to coach the football team, he responded by winning 10 league championships.

[57] The team won the program's first state title in 1995 with a 2–1 win against Edison in the Group IV finals.

Rodrigo Torrejon of The Journal News characterized the school's student body as being "diverse".

[62] The alma mater of Hackensack High School was written by W. Demarest and B. Pratt of the Class of 1918.