State finals moved to Massillon

The high school football championship games scheduled for this weekend have been moved to Massillon Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Lake Catholic athletic director Sam Colacarro confirmed to The News-Herald that the games that were previously scheduled to be played at Fortress Obetz on the southeast side of Columbus will now be played in Massillon.

That means Division V Kirtland, D-IV Lake Catholic and D-III Chardon — as well as their fans — will all have much shorter trips on state championship weekend.

The news of the games being moved was first reported by the Massillon Independent and confirmed by the school’s superintendent.

“Franklin County is shut down,” Colacarro said of the stay-at-home order sent down by the county board of health because of the novel coronavirus numbers rising in the county.

“Columbus area is basically shut down. (The OHSAA) is just following their health board’s recommendations. Massillon stepped up. Same times, just different location.”

The time schedules are the same adjusted time schedules the OHSAA announced Nov. 18, moved up slightly so as to adhere to Gov. Mike DeWine’s mandate for a curfew stating at 10 p.m.

Kirtland (10-0) will play Ironton (11-0) at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21, for the D-V state championship, followed by the DIII state-title game between Chardon (11-0) and Columbus DeSales (9-1) at 6:15 p.m.

The next day, Sunday, Nov. 22, Lake Catholic (82) and Van Wert (10-1) will play at 12:15 p.m. for the DIII crown.

Other games scheduled for the weekend are:

• New Bremen (9-2) and

Warren JFK (9-2) on Friday, Nov. 20, at 1:15 p.m. in the D-VII championship game.

• Massillon (10-1) vs. Akron Hoban (10-0) at 6:15 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20, in the D-II championship game.

• New Middletown Springfield (11-0) vs. Coldwater (11-0) in the D-VI championship game at 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 22.

“I’m thrilled with it,” Chardon coach Mitch Hewitt said of the move. “It cuts our drive in half.”

Additionally, the Hilltoppers are playing Columbus DeSales. And while each school’s fan base is limited to 750 people, Hewitt pointed out, “There’s a big difference between traveling three-plus hours and 15 minutes.”

Chardon played two state championship games at Paul Brown Stadium in the past, winning the title in 1994 against Rayland Buckeye Local and losing to Lebanon in 1998.

“It’s more of a neutral site than (Fortress Obetz),” Hewitt said, “but more

than anything, it’s one of the greatest venues for football in the entire country to play high school football.”

Kirtland is no stranger to Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, either. The Hornets’ first state title, a win over Coldwater, was held in that venue. A year later, Coldwater evened the score by beating Kirtland for the 2012 championship.

Kirtland coach Tiger LaVerde gave his thumbsup to the move as well. He said the setup at Fortress Obetz — with stands on only one side — wasn’t ideal.

“I don’t think they should play a state championship game with all the stands on one side of the field,” he said. “If you’re the visiting team there, nobody is behind you. That doesn’t seem right when there are so many nice high school stadiums around the state to play in.

“Having all the fans on the same side is probably not a good idea, either, so I think it’s good that they changed it.”