A defence lawyer in a high-profile rape case that has rocked the small Ohio town of Steubenville has filed a motion to move the trial and close it to the public, due to the huge media attention it has generated.

The case, in which two players from the enormously popular local high-school football team are accused of a sexual attack on a drunk and unconscious teenager, has created headlines across America. It has also attracted the attention of the international press, the Anonymous hacker collective and anti-rape groups, due to accusations that the alleged crime was subject to cover-up attempts as a result of the high social position that the football team, known locally as "Big Red", holds in the town.

The result has been an invasion of the area by scores of journalists, a lengthy article in the New York Times, national television attention, a thousand-strong protest by Anonymous supporters and duelling websites set up by hackers and the police, each seeking to get its version of events across to the public.

Now a lawyer for one of the two accused players has asked for the trial to be moved, due to the "out of control" situation, and held behind closed doors to keep the media and general public away. "As the case stands now, it has gotten completely out of control… misconceptions are so widely blown out of portion that this has become a fiasco," said attorney Walter Madison.

The allegations focus on a drunken night of parties involving Big Red players and others that took place in August. It is alleged that two of the team's most storied players, quarterback Trent Mays and wide receiver Ma'lik Richmond, both 16, attacked the girl. Both have been charged with rape and are scheduled to stand trial on 13 February. Both deny the accusations.

The saga is complicated by the fact that the allegations only emerged due to messages, photos and videos taken on smart phones and circulated on social-media websites. The victim has told police she cannot remember the attack and only went to the authorities after lurid details of it began spreading on the internet and between pupils, including a photo that appears to show her being carried unconscious by the two players in question.

The case has deeply divided Steubenville, a former industrial town in eastern Ohio which is now struggling against economic decline. Many residents say the attention paid to the crime and allegations of a culture of widespread corruption among police, team officials and local-government leaders have been overblown. Town authorities, with the local police force, have set up a website entitled Steubenville Facts in order to counter a tidal wave of criticism.

Anonymous, an amorphous group of web-savvy hackers which has adopted the cause as a kind of vigilante crusade, has posted extensive details about the case online, including a video of Big Red players laughing and joking about the alleged rape.

Anonymous and other critics say that Steubenville's leaders enjoy a too-cosy relationship with Big Red that shields players from justice, due to the huge support the football team enjoys and the prestige it brings to the town.