OHSAA chief Doug Ute sets stage for Ohio high school football championship week in Canton

CANTON TWP. — Ohio's state championship high school football games are here today, here tomorrow, and — perhaps — tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

Area teams Massillon and Dalton are part of the Ohio High School Athletic Association finals that will include seven games spread across Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

On Monday, during a speech to the Hall of Fame Luncheon Club, OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute announced a new contract returning the title games to Canton for 2023, 2025 and 2026, with an option for keeping championship week here in 2027, 2028 and 2029.

Ute and Rich Desrosiers of the Pro Football Hall of Fame talked of Canton as a long-term home beyond the new contract.

Ute, in his fourth year as top OHSAA executive, said he beams about Canton when he talks to directors from other states.

"I stick my chest out," he told a crowd at Tozzi's on 12th. "I say, 'We're the state where the Hall of Fame is, and our kids get to play in Canton, where greatness is.'

"We're so excited to be here. It's where we need to be."

Ute was introduced by Desrosiers, chief communications and content officer at the Hall of Fame.

"We talk a lot at the Hall of Fame about enshrinees having Canton as their second home," Desrosiers said. "We want the high school football championships to have their second home in Canton, hopefully for the rest of my lifetime."

The state championship games have been in Hall of Fame Stadium six times in the last seven years. The exception was 2020, the COVID-marred year when all but one title game wound up at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Championship games were played at Ohio Stadium in Columbus in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

State championship week made a marathon run when games were split between Canton and Massillon from 1998 through 2013. All of the title games were in Massillon from 1993-97.

Canton became more attractive after Fawcett Stadium was disassembled and replaced by a new stadium.

Hall of Fame Village adds to 'wow factor' of OHSAA state finals in Canton

The allure increases as Hall of Fame Village moves past rocky years of planning to buildings opening while a hotel and a water park are built.

Don Shula's American Kitchen, Brew Kettle and Pizza Oven, all within close view of the stadium, weren't open for last year's finals; they are now. Brew Kettle has an upstairs patio overlooking the playing field.

Ute has mentioned Canton's "wow factor" before, and he did so again on Monday.

"We have 28 sports where state tournaments are held," he said. "When you get to that level, we want our kids to have a wow factor when they get off the bus. In Canton, you have a wow factor on (Interstate) 77 just looking over at the facility, not just stepping off that bus."

It will be a short ride for a few of this week's state finalists, including Massillon and Akron Hoban, who square off in the Division II title game at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Dalton takes on Maria Stein Marion Local at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Division VII.

The other matchups are:

• Kirtland vs. Versailles, 10:30 a.m. Friday, Division VI

• Toledo Central Catholic vs. Columbus Watterson, 3 p.m. Friday, Division III

• Lakewood St. Edward vs. Springfield, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Division I

• Lake County Perry vs. Liberty Central, 3 p.m. Saturday, Division V

• Cleveland Glenville vs. Kettering Alter, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Division IV

Ohio high school football: OHSAA football state finals | Games to stay at Canton's Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium

OHSAA football state finals ticket information

Hoping to attend a game? It might be best to secure tickets soon.

General admission tickets, $16 apiece, are available only online via the OHSAA, whose football website is https://www.ohsaa.org/sports/football

There won't be a box office open on game day.

Ute explained an online-only process that has drawn widespread grumbling, noting the OHSAA is a nonprofit organization joined voluntarily by its 818 member high schools.

"We receive no money from the state," he said. "We receive no money from the regular season. (Postseason) games fund our association. Eighty percent of our money comes from butts in seats.

"We want to drive our folks online. That's just logistically best for us. Think about this. We have 226 football games (the first week of the playoffs). That's 700, 800, 900 hands in a pot of cash.

"From an auditor's standpoint, it's a nightmare that way."

New and old faces to play in 2023 OHSAA state championship football games

The 2023 tournament includes schools that seem to live in the state finals, such as Marion Local an Kirtland.

"Some teams coming this year either haven't been here, or haven't been here for a long, long time," Ute said.

Dalton is in its 17th postseason but has reached the finals for the first time. Marion Local has won seven state titles in the last 10 years.

Massillon has made frequent playoff trips but has yet to win a playoff championship.

The Tigers appeared in the Division II title game in 2020, when big crowds weren't allowed into a game played in Massillon. The Tigers fell 35-6 to Hoban.

Massillon also played in the 2019 state finals, losing 34-17 to Cincinnati LaSalle, at Hall of Fame Stadium.

Ute praised leaders and support people who contributed to the contract extension.

"I want to thank you folks here in Canton," he said. "The feedback we get is unbelievable."

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: OHSAA's Doug Ute talks Ohio high school football state finals