MASSILLON, Ohio — The Ohio High School Athletic Association is moving the state championship games slated for this weekend out of Columbus and into Massillon due to a health advisory issued by the Franklin County Department of Health and the Columbus Department of Health.
The games were scheduled to be played at Fortress Obetz in southwest Columbus but will instead be moved to Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, which has offered to host all six remaining games.
Under the Franklin County Health Advisory, all extracurricular activities for schools have been recommended to pause and residents are asked to be home by 6 p.m., OHSAA said.
The decision to move the games to Massillon was made on Thursday after decisions were held with officials at Fortress Obetz and Franklin County.
OHSAA met virtually with all 12 schools competing in the championships to inform them of the change and which all want to play, according to OHSAA.
“Completing this weekend’s state championship games is very important to the schools, student-athletes and communities, so we felt strongly about finding a place to play,” said OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute. “These 12 schools just want to play and we thank them for accepting this change. We would also like to especially thank Massillon Washington High School for stepping up to host, and also Hoban for agreeing to play there.”
The championship schedule remains the same, with games on Friday and Saturday at 1:15 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. and on Sunday at 12:15 p.m and 5:15 p.m.
For the Division II title game, Akron Archbishop Hoban High School agreed to play Massillon Washington on Massillon’s home field, although Hoban is the home team in the game.
The OHSAA football state championship schedule is as follows:
Division VII
Friday, November 20, 1:15 p.m. - New Bremen (9-2) vs. Warren John F. Kennedy (9-2)
Division II
Friday, November 20, 6:15 p.m. - Akron Archbishop Hoban (10-0) vs. Massillon Washington (10-1)
Division V
Saturday, November 21, 1:15 p.m. - Kirtland (10-0) vs. Ironton (11-0)
Division III
Saturday, November 21, 6:15 p.m. - Columbus St. Francis DeSales (9-1) vs. Chardon (11-0)
Division IV
Sunday, November 22, 12:15 p.m. - Van Wert (10-1) vs. Mentor Lake Catholic (8-2)
Division VI
Sunday, November 22, 5:15 p.m. - New Middletown Springfield (11-0) vs. Coldwater (11-0)
