Hamilton County announced that Paycor Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Bengals, will host the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I, Region 4 championship game on November 20 at 7 p.m. The matchup will pit the winner of No. 4 Moeller versus No. 1 Princeton against the winner of No. 6 St. Xavier versus No. 2 Elder, with both semifinal games set for Friday night.
Hamilton County officials framed the booking as both a showcase for local talent and a practical use of the county-owned stadium, saying the game gives student-athletes a chance to shine while making the most of the venue, according to WLWT. Hamilton County Commission President Stephanie Summerow Dumas tied the decision to a broader pledge to keep the stadium accessible to residents, saying the county is fulfilling its commitment to make Paycor Stadium a place for county residents. She added that the young athletes have worked hard to reach the championship game, and said, “We are proud to host and give them this special opportunity once again and into the future.”
Tickets, Parking and Gate Times
Tickets for the championship are priced at $12 and go on sale online through OHSAA starting Monday at 10 a.m., per FOX19. Event parking in surrounding lots and garages is set at $10 and is credit-card only, the station reports. Fans heading downtown should also note that Paycor Stadium operates as a cashless facility and that no alcohol will be served at the game, per the same report.
Gates are scheduled to open at 5:30 p.m., with the West Gate and East Gate serving as the two main general-admission entrances, FOX19 notes. That gives fans roughly an hour and a half to get settled in before the 7 p.m. kickoff.
A Rivalry Rematch in the Making
If St. Xavier and Elder both advance past Friday's semifinals, it would mark the second straight year the two programs have met for the Region 4 title at Paycor Stadium. St. Xavier won last season's championship there 42-34, and the two programs carry one of the city's longest-running rivalries into this year's playoff picture, with Elder holding a 56-49-6 edge in the all-time series, according to a WLWT preview. More recently, though, the Bombers have had the upper hand, winning seven of the last 10 meetings between the schools, including the past two, the preview states. St. Xavier also enters the postseason having outscored its first two playoff opponents, 11th-seeded Fairfield and third-seeded Lakota West, by a combined 93-14.
Paycor Stadium becoming a stage for Cincinnati-area prep football is not a new development. A year ago, the Cincinnati Bengals announced the stadium would host the 2025 Region 4 final between Elder and St. Xavier, noting that the venue's expanded capacity made an additional 20,000 tickets available for that game. That 2025 matchup itself had been a late relocation, with WCPO reporting the final was moved to Paycor Stadium from its originally scheduled site.
This year's finalists won't be known until after Friday's semifinal games wrap up, leaving fans to wait and see whether the Moeller-Princeton winner squares off against a familiar postseason rival in St. Xavier or Elder, or a fresh matchup entirely.
