COLUMBUS – A statewide nighttime curfew taking effect Thursday night has prompted the Ohio High School Athletic Association to reschedule the state football championship games this weekend at Fortress Obetz.
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That includes the Division III title game, featuring DeSales (9-1) and Chardon (11-0), which will kick of at 6:15 p.m. so that the stadium can be closed by 10:00 p.m.
Games will now begin at 1:15 p.m. and 6:15 on Friday and Saturday, instead of 2:00 and 7:00 as originally scheduled, the high school sports governing body announced Wednesday.
In addition, the Division IV and VI games on Sunday will kick off at 12:15 p.m. and 5:15 p.m., instead of noon and 5:00.
The Franklin County Department of Health and Columbus Public Health have also issued a stay-at-home advisory beginning Friday at 6:00 p.m., asking residents to stay at home due to the rapid rise of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, but the OHSAA says that does not currently affect status of the games.
The two competing schools in each game are provided with 750 tickets based on attendance limitations currently set by the Ohio Department of Health’s Sports Order due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which are at 15 percent of the permanent seating capacity but no more than 1,500 spectators per game with no general admission public tickets sales.