CANAL WINCHESTER, Ohio — Friday night lights have been moved to Saturday afternoon.
Guns have been recovered and arrests were made the last two times Groveport Madison High School played Canal Winchester High School in football.
Now, the schools and law enforcement are taking steps to ensure this year’s game is safe.
“There are no credible threats that have been received. This is strictly out of an abundance of caution because of some of the past events that had occurred,” said Madison Township Police Chief Gary York. “Once we recovered the one, it was like a domino effect. We just started recovering the next couple of firearms."
Body-worn camera video from the August 2023 incident shows three teens being arrested after someone thought there was a gun in a backpack.
It turns out each teen had a gun and Glock switches.
One of these teens, who 10TV is not identifying because of his age, was the first teen in the county to be charged with having a Glock switch on a gun.
That wasn’t the first time there was an issue with teens having guns at this match-up.
A shooting occurred at the Canal Winchester vs. Groveport Madison game the year before in 2022. Nobody was injured, but 18-year-old James Keys was arrested and charged in federal court.
“The first incident that took place at Groveport High School actually involved a gun that was discharged by an individual that had brought a loaded firearm that was discharged outside of the stadium,” York said. "These were people that came to these games that had made some poor decisions and as a result of that, it affected the communities of both districts."
This is why school officials and law enforcement aren’t taking any chances for the matchup this year.
The game will be played on Saturday at 2 p.m. instead of the traditional time of Friday night.
“The difference is obviously daylight. It will be on a Saturday afternoon. This particular Saturday the Buckeyes kick off at noon. Maybe the crowd will be a lot less. It will be just the parents of the players and the students there,” York said.
York said while no student of either school was involved in either incident, there will be a strict ID policy for students attending the game.
He added there were multiple fights at the Groveport Madison vs. Reynoldsburg game involving students from other schools.
He explained that the ID policy helps make sure the school resource officers from both districts and the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office who will be there will have a better chance of knowing students at the game.
Madison Township will also have its mobile pro-system with cameras keeping a watchful eye.
“I just want to reassure folks who are going to the Canal Winchester Groveport Madison high school football game on the 26th that we are going to do everything we can to ensure they have a safe venue to come in and enjoy a nice, safe community event,” York said.