EUCLID, Ohio — Another football game this season has been moved from Euclid's Community Stadium. It’s the second time it has happened this year.
Friday's Division 4 state semifinal football game between Canton South and Cleveland Glenville will now take place at Wadsworth High School Art Wright Stadium.
It was originally scheduled for Euclid's community stadium, but on Monday that changed. Tim Stried with OHSAA said Wadsworth is where the association originally wanted to have the game.
“We just didn’t initially have them available on the list for our state semifinals, so once we knew they were available, that was going to be one of our initial sites anyway,” said Stried. “So, we were able to move it.”
Stried said Wadsworth is a better choice geographically and prevents home-field advantage for Glenville. He adds Canton South parents were vocal about neutrality concerns when the game was initially scheduled in Euclid.
“We heard from quite a few people in the Canton South community, but we have that every game,” said Stried. “You name a playoff game that we put at a neutral site and someone's not happy about it.”
OHSAA said the late decision to move the tournament to Wadsworth has nothing to do with safety fears. You may recall that in September, Euclid moved its homecoming game to Brunswick High School because of safety concerns. The following week, Euclid was supposed to host Solon, but Solon forfeited amid worries about playing there. Euclid eventually found an opponent from Michigan.
“We were aware of an incident that happened at Euclid earlier this year,” said Stried. “We believe that was an isolated incident, and we had full support of the Euclid administration to have a safe atmosphere. So, we were not concerned about that. Euclid is a great member school, and they would have done a great job hosting the game.”
Euclid City Schools declined an interview today about the location change. The Division 4 state semifinals are Friday at 7 P.M.
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