COLUMBUS – Bishop Hartley is the only central Ohio high school to survive to reach the state football finals at Ohio Stadium this week.
Game schedules are below
Hartley (10-3) will face Steubenville (13-0) in the Division IV final on Saturday night.
Fans who cannot get to one of the schools can buy tickets online through Ticketmaster.
This is the second year in a row that the fabled Horseshoe will host the high school championships after hosting them throughout the 1980s. When natural grass was installed in Ohio Stadium in 1990, OSU asked the Ohio High School Athletic Association to move the title games and the OHSAA moved the games to Canton Fawcett Stadium and Massillon Paul Brown Tiger Stadium championship games for last 24 years.
The finals returned to Columbus for the 1014 and 2015 seasons due to the stadium renovations underway in Canton and an additional year was added before the OHSAA moves the finals back to Stark County for 2017 and 2018.
The Div. IV game between Hartley and Middletown Bishop Fenwick is the only matchup involving teams that were both top seeds in their region.
Maria Stein Marion Local has reached the state championship game for the fifth-straight year and the four-time defending state champion Flyers have set a new OHSAA record for consecutive playoff victories with 24. Western Ohio is well represented in the championships. Coldwater, Marion Local and Fort Recovery are less than 15 miles apart and are all members of the Midwest Athletic Conference.
OHSAA football championships Dec 3 – 5 at Ohio Stadium
Thursday, 7:30 p.m
Div. III – . – Akron Archbishop Hoban (13-1) vs. Toledo Central Catholic (12-2)
Friday
10:00 a.m. – Div. V – Coldwater (14-0) vs. Canton Central Catholic (10-3)
3:00 p.m. – Div. VII – Fort Recovery (12-2) vs. Mogadore (13-1)
8:00 p.m. – Div. II – Cincinnati La Salle (12-2) vs. Massillon Perry (12-2)
Saturday
10:00 a.m. – Div. VI – Maria Stein Marion Local (13-1) vs. Kirtland (13-1)
3:00 p.m. – Div. I – Lakewood St. Edward (13-1) vs. Huber Heights Wayne (14-0)
8:00 p.m. – Div. IV – Steubenville (13-0) vs. Columbus Bishop Hartley (10-3)