OHSAA awards Pro Football HOF state title games

CANTON — The Ohio High School Athletic Association and Pro Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday announced a three-year agreement for the Hall to host the state football championships in Canton. The games, across Ohio's seven divisions, will be played at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium beginning this season, tentatively the weekend of Dec. 2-4.Pro Football Hall of Fame Chief Administrative Officer Steve Strawbridge and OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute outlined the partnership at a news conference on Wednesday in the Hall of Fame's James Allen Family Gold Jacket Lounge."The OHSAA is excited for this three-year agreement with the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as our student-athletes, schools and communities will get to experience Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium and all that Canton and the Hall of Fame Village have to offer," Ute said. "We are grateful to the Hall of Fame for their partnership, and we look forward to collaborating with the Hall year-round."We want a 'wow' factor for our kids when they get off the bus," Ute added. "Not only for the kids but for our coaches and communities. This place certainly gives us that." Canton, Massillon and Ohio State University have hosted the state football championships at various points over the past 30 years. With its ties to the game and Canton's rich history, the OHSAA believed the Pro Football Hall of Fame was the ideal place to host the state football championships."The Hall of Fame prides itself in treating OHSAA football teams and their fans the same way we treat the NFL teams and their fans," Strawbridge said. "We give them a first-class experience while they are here. We take the teams through the museum and promote the values of the game. We look forward to providing an exceptional experience for the players, coaches, families and fans attending the games in Canton — the pinnacle of football."Visit Canton, which first hosted the state football championships starting in 1990 and most recently in Canton from 2017-19, will continue to be a sponsor and partner of the events.Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, formerly Fawcett Stadium, is located adjacent to the grounds of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The venue hosts the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame preseason game, which annually kicks off each NFL season, and serves as the home field for Canton McKinley High School and Walsh University.In 2014, Benson, the late owner of the New Orleans Saints, donated $11 million to the HOF — $10 million of which was to go into renovating the stadium. It was renamed and dedicated in his honor in 2017. The stadium renovation was part of the approximately $200 million construction completed in Phase I of the Johnson Controls Hall of Fame Village expansion project.The stadium seats 23,000 and has an NFL-caliber press box.Previously, the OHSAA state title games were contested throughout the state at bigger venues from the playoff inception in 1972 through 1982. That included Norwalk winning the Class AA state championship in 1974 at Welcome Stadium in Dayton.The title games were then held inside Ohio Stadium in Columbus from 1983-89, then shifted to a split site between Fawcett Stadium and nearby Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon from 1990-2013. The games then shifted back to Ohio Stadium in Columbus from 2014-16, while all games were played at the Canton stadium in 2017-19. All seven title games in 2020 were held in Massillon after Fortress Obetz near Columbus could not host the games because of COVID issues.One area team has played a state championship game at the Canton venue. On Dec. 4, 1999, St. Paul lost to Delphos St. John's by a 42-10 final score. The attendance of 7,853 remains the seventh-largest crowd to watch a Division VI championship game, while Jordan Wangler still owns the record for longest kickoff return for a touchdown (88 yards) and Aidan McDonell has the record for longest field goal (35 yards) in Div. VI title game history.The Flyers also played in title games in Columbus (2014) and Massillon (1997, 2004, 2009), claiming the Div. VI title in 2009.In April, the OHSAA announced the upcoming 2021 season would see an expanded playoff format adopted. The number of playoff qualifiers will expand to 16 schools per region instead of the traditional eight teams that qualified from 1999-2019. With a six-game regular season in 2020 as fallout from the COVID pandemic, every eligible team qualified for the state playoffs.Starting this season, the higher seeded team will host first and second round playoff games, instead of only the first round. Neutral sites will be used beginning with the regional semifinals. In the first round, the No. 16 seed will play at the No. 1 seed, the No. 15 seed will play at the No. 2 seed, etc.Because of the expansion, opening weekend for the 2021 season is slated for the weekend of Aug. 20-21. On Wednesday, Ute said the OHSAA talked with several venues about hosting the finals before saying "we want to be somewhere that wants us." "This is where we should be if we can afford it," he said. The format for the state finals will not change. There will be one title game on Thursday, Dec. 2, with three each on Friday and Saturday. Ute said the Canton team's experience in hosting multiple games was important. "The intricacies and complexities of three games in a day is huge, and that's one reason I'm happy we're coming here," Ute said. "It's truly a feat to behold." Financially, moving some championships out of Columbus will cost the OHSAA less money. Ute said the organization experienced three straight years of deficit spending and had a low cash reserve prior to COVID. "We're looking at everything we do financially," he said. "We are grateful to the Hall of Fame for their partnership, and we look forward to collaborating with the Hall year-round."