OxfordPress.com

A 21st century state champion has a few advantages over a team that won a title 50, 20, even 10 years ago — fresher memories not being the biggest plus.

The boys soccer teams of Catholic Central and Greeneview can watch DVDs of their championship game. Thanks to Rams coach Bob Eakins, Greeneview fans can even go online to see the team win the 2005 title on penalty kicks — not to mention about every other highlight of that season.

"It took me about four months to get all the highlights together," Eakins says. "It was incredible. That's something that will never go away. Even if I win four more state titles, it doesn't matter. That first one is going to be something special."

For both programs, winning the state title was a milestone in many ways.

Central's championship was the first in soccer — boys or girls — in Clark County history. It was the first championship for a Clark County team in a fall sports since 1987, when the Southeastern boys golf team claimed a state title.

No Clark County team has won a state title since the Irish in 2001.

"I think about it all the time," said Catholic Central coach Shane Latham, who still watches the DVD of that game every once in a while, but not as many times as people might think. "When you do that, it's a memory that's going to be with you a long time. Every year, we strive to get back there and do it again."

Latham will coach the Irish for the 22nd season this fall, so he knows how difficult winning a state title is.

"It was one of those years where everything went right," Latham said. "We hit our peak during the state tournament and were able to win some tough games in the regional. That regional was tougher than the final four."

That Central team might have been the best in the state that season in any division, Latham said.

The 2005 Greeneview boys could say the same thing. For certain, no team had a better record than the Rams two years ago. They finished 23-0, capturing Greeneview's first team state title in any sport.

"It's very satisfying to know that Jamestown is capable of producing a state champion," Eakins said.

Until that tournament run, the Rams had never advanced past the district final. They reached their first regional in 2005 by beating Latham's Irish 5-4 on a goal by Ryan Hartman in overtime.

"We refused to get beat," Eakins said. "We were down in just a couple of games all year long. ... There was something special about that group. Boy, if I could put my finger on it, I'd put it in a bottle and sell it."

CHAMPS AT A GLANCE

2001 Catholic Central boys soccer

Title game summary: The Irish won the Division III crown 3-2 over Gates Mills Hawken at Columbus Crew Stadium on Nov. 9. Junior D.J. Catrow scored two goals, including the game-winner with 91 seconds left, and junior Matt Calabrese had one goal.

Season summary: Central went 20-2-1 and featured a strong junior class led by future Ohio State starter Brent Rohrer and Catrow, who played for the Buckeyes before finishing his career at Valparaiso.

2005 Greeneview boys soccer

Title game summary: The Rams won the Division III title 1-0 over Youngstown Cardinal Mooney on Nov. 11 at Columbus Crew Stadium. Neither team scored in regulation or overtime. Brock Gill, Ryan Hartman and Jared Randall scored in the penalty-kick shootout, won 3-1 by the Rams.

Season summary: Greeneview carried the state's No. 1 ranking for most of the season and finished 23-0. The Rams had a strong senior class, led by the Ohio D-III Player of the Year, Ryan Hartman, who's entering his sophomore season at the University of Dayton.