Players vote to move title game to Columbus

Ohio State officials and about half of high school players surveyed across the state say they would prefer Ohio Stadium as the site of the six division championship prep football games played each season.

Canton and Massillon in northeast Ohio have hosted some or all of the high school championship games for the past 16 years, and the cities had their contracts extended through 2009 this spring.

Of the 1,827 high school players surveyed by The Columbus Dispatch, 52 percent said they would prefer to play at Ohio State. The newspaper surveyed players from 30 schools throughout the state that have routinely qualified for the playoffs, played in last year's championship games or have competed in at least one championship game in the last decade.

"Just about anyone who plays high school football here dreams of playing in the Horseshoe, and that's where the championships should be," said Zach Steve, a senior tackle for Columbus Brookhaven.

The stadiums in Canton and Massillon each got 11 percent of the vote, coming in after Cleveland Browns Stadium with 13 percent and Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati with 12 percent.

Cincinnati is lobbying for the games with the help of Bengals owner Mike Brown, while Cleveland officials say they plan to explore a potential bid.