CANTON — The high school football state championship games are returning to Canton once again. And it will be another multi-year stay.
All seven OHSAA state championship football games will be back in Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in 2021.
A three-year contract calling for all of the championship games to be played at the stadium next to the Pro Football Hall of Fame was announced Wednesday at the Hall. That means 21 state finals are to be played in Canton across the 2021, 2022 and 2023 postseasons.
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The agreement was explained at the Hall of Fame by OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute. Chief Administrative Officer Steve Strawbridge represented the Hall.
“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 in statement released by the Hall. “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.”
COVID-19 rearranged high school football in 2020. The regular season was shortened to six games. The OHSAA scrambled to find game sites as the tournament unfolded.
Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium was under contract to play host to the seven 2020 state title games, but none got played there. Cincinnati St. Xavier won the Division I state title game at a complex near Columbus, Fortress Obetz, on Nov. 13.
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The championship games in the six other divisions landed in Massillon's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium across three days, Nov. 20, 21 and 22. The six were to be played at Fortress Obetz, however, on the eve of those state finals, the six games were shifted to Massillon because of a curfew being put in place in Franklin County. Despite the short turnaround, the games went off relatively issue-free at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
Had Massillon not made itself available for six of the 2020 games, the OHSAA would have faced a scramble to find sites. Massillon's 11th-hour rescue raised speculation about 2021 title games landing at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
Instead, all seven 2021 title games will be in Canton.
Massilon's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium's title game history
For a while, Massillon was a fixture as a site for state title games.
State championship first were decided by playoffs rather than polls in 1972. At first, there were only three enrollment-based divisions, Class AAA, Class AA and Class A. Massillon played host to that Class AA championship game in 1972 and 1973.
Stark County fell out of the rotation after that. Akron's Rubber Bowl became a go-to site from 1975-82. Other title games landed in Dayton, Upper Arlington, Cincinnati, Mansfield, Groveport and Springfield.
Ohio Stadium hosted state title games much of the 1980s
The system expanded to five divisions in 1980. Ohio Stadium soon took over as the main championship location. The home of the Ohio State Buckeyes played host to every title game from 1983 through 1989.
Crowd atmosphere tended to get swallowed by the vastness of "The Shoe." The title games moved out in 1990, when Warren won the Division I state title in the Rubber Bowl. The four other title games, including Lake's loss to Fostoria in Division II, were played at Massillon.
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It was a similar story in 1991 and 1992, when the Division I games were played in Canton, and the other four title games went to Massillon.
Massillon was the sole host of all five title games in 1993. After the system expanded to six divisions, Massillon squeezed in all six title games in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997.
The massive preparation required to accommodate McKinley's appearance in the 1997 title game contributed to splitting the championship games between Massillon and Canton in 1998, when McKinley again won a state title in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
Fawcett Stadium and Tiger Stadium shared the championship games for 16 years, from 1998 through 2013, the year the system expanded to seven divisions.
Championship games go back to Ohio State
All seven title games moved to Columbus for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 postseasons, amid the renaming and piecemeal demolition of Fawcett Stadium.
In 2017, with an all-new Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in place, the title games were moved to Canton. It was the first time all of the games were played in Canton, which subsequently hosted all of the games in 2018 and 2019.
After the 2020 interlude in Massillon, the games are back in Canton, under contract, through 2023.
When are the 2021 OHSAA state championship football games?
This year's state title games will be Dec. 2-5 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
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