You were not alone this past weekend in feeling the seven high school state football title games resulted in lopsided scores with fewer people in the stands.
In fact, as a group, the seven games in Canton resulted in the most one-sided totals since the Ohio High School Athletic Association began staging state title games in 1972.
The 28.6 point margin of victory at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium was the largest since 1976 — a year that featured just three state title games (AAA/AA/A) and had a difference of 27.6 per game.
Last weekend would have been even more lopsided if it were not for Ohio’s use of a running clock rule in the second half when one team leads by 30 or more points.
Five of the seven games on Saturday included those running clocks as games finished with final scores of 28-14, 37-20, 30-0, 45-7, 35-3, 41-6 and 37-3.
State finals attendance declining
This past weekend also showed a continuing decline in attendance at the state championship games. There were 32,750 fans at the seven games, an average of 4,678.
The Shelby-Glenville crowd for the Division IV clash was the second best of the entire weekend with 6,011 in attendance. Only the Division I game between Olentangy Orange and Cincinnati St. Xavier had more at 6,035.
But overall, attendance at the championship weekend has declined almost steadily since 2015. That was the year 62,089 came to Ohio Stadium in Columbus for the seven games, an average of 8,869.
It’s fair to note that weather (which is obviously different every year) and location (with Columbus being much more of a central location) are elements to consider, too.
The games were moved to Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame venue in 2017 and the decline has been almost annual since that first year when 61,312 attended.
That 2017 weekend included 10,251 in attendance for the Division IV game (Steubenville vs. Clinton-Massie); 9,778 for the Division V contest (Wheelersburg-Pemberville Eastwood); 8,062 for Division VI game (Marion Local-Kirtland) and 6,542 for the Division VII game (Minster-Cuyahoga Heights).
The only exception to the sliding attendance came in 2023 when 43,379 bought tickets. That number was bolstered by the appearance of Massillon Washington, who helped to attract 14,846 for its win in the Division II win over Akron Hoban.
Point spreads growing
The wider point-spread margins continued a growing trend in state final games, according to OHSAA records, and appear to be growing as the state adds more divisions (and more state title games).
From 1972 to 1979, Ohio had just three state championship games in Class AA, AA and A.
In eight years, covering 27 games, the average margin of victory was 14.5 points per game.
The most lopsided game was in 1976 when Cincinnati Moeller, led by legendary coach Gerry Faust, claimed its second straight Class AAA title with a 43-5 win over Gahanna Lincoln. That game led to the 27.6 overall margin of victory in that season.
That larger spread came one year after the closest title season in history. In 1975, the three championship games generated a difference of just 15 points with final scores of 14-12, 19-14 and 15-7 (in overtime).
The OHSAA expanded to five divisions in 1980 — Division I, II, III, IV and V. That configuration continued through the 1993 season.
During those 14 campaigns, there were 70 state championship games played with an average margin of victory of 12.8, a slight improvement in close games over the eight years of AAA, AA and A.
The two closest years in that span came in 1989 and again in 1990 when the championship games averaged a 6.8-point margin of victory. The 10 single-game margins were seven, 11, 10, three, three, six, seven, five, seven and nine.
The 1990 title games included a 29-26 win by Versailles over Loudonville in a game played at Massillon’s Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
The widest margin of victory during the five-division era came in 1981 at 19.2 per title game.
In that season, Canton McKinley beat Moeller (13-0), Cleveland Benedictine beat Trotwood-Madison (28-7), Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary defeated Washington Court House (48-7), Nelsonville-York knocked off Tontogany Otsego (34-16) and Tiffin Calvert beat Newark Catholic (3-0).
The OHSAA expanded its playoff field again in 1994, switching to six divisions — I, II, III, IV, IV, V and VI.
The point spread at title games increased by four to 16 during the 19 seasons the state used six divisions, ending in 2012.
The closest weekend was in 1995 when the margin of victory was a mere seven. In five of the six games, the winning margin was a TD or less.
The most lopsided weekend during the six-champion era came in 2003 when the margin was 25.1 in 2001, including a 63-7 win by Marion Local over Mogadore.
The OHSAA changed to the current seven-division format in 2013 and the point spread has continued to balloon.
During the last 13 seasons, there have been 91 state title games with an average point differential of 18.25, one TD more per game over the five-division format.
Though 2025 was the most lopsided ever, the spread has been steadily growing the last few seasons — 19.4 in 2024, 18.8 in 2023 and 18.2 in 2022 and 21.1 in 2020.
The only recent exception came in 2021, when the difference in the seven games averaged 11.4 per contest. The only blowout that year was in the smallest-school division when Marion Local blasted Newark Catholic, 42-7.