The Division I, Region 4 final between the Elder High School Panthers and St. Xavier Bombers will be played at Paycor Stadium.
The venue change was first reported by Fox 19’s Joe Danneman.
“I am grateful for Katie Blackburn and the Bengals organization in partnering to make this happen. This was one of the main points in our recent lease negotiations. Hopefully it is indicative of many similar events to come,” Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus said in a statement. “This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for so many of the young men who take the field Friday night. Paycor is a publicly owned stadium – it only makes sense that the public should be able to access it for big events like Elder versus St. X.”
The day after Elder and St. Xavier completed dramatic comebacks to advance to the regional final, it was announced that the game would be played at Beacon Orthopaedics TriHealth Stadium in Mason. The decision drew significant outcry from both fanbases, especially after 7,000 tickets sold out in less than three hours on Monday, Nov. 17.
The Panthers and Bombers are no stranger to large crowds inside “The Jungle.” In 2001, St. Xavier defeated Princeton and Elder defeated Colerain in a regional semifinal doubleheader in front of approximately 47,000 fans. The next week, the Bombers would defeat Elder, 24-21, at Nippert Stadium to advance to the state semifinals.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association has held playoff games at college stadiums in recent years, notably Akron, Bowling Green State, Youngstown State, Ohio Wesleyan and Baldwin Wallce.
The last time Paycor stadium, an NFL venue, hosted a high school football game was St. Xavier’s 34-0 win over Lakota West on Aug. 24, 2018. That game had to be moved Downtown after NCAA legislation prohibited it from being played at Nippert Stadium.
The stadium hosted a slew of games in 2008, including Wyoming versus Mariemont, Taylor versus Indian Hill and Elder versus St. Thomas Aquinas (FL).
This story may be updated.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: St. Xavier Bombers, Elder Panthers to play Division I regional final at Paycor Stadium
Reporting by Brendan Connelly, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
