Stanislaus District’s Got Talent: The division created to take down Central

Featured players: Liam Pecchenino and Justin Rice

Pecchenino and Rice will be featured together in the final two parts of the series. Before he was a track and field athlete at Fresno State, Pecchenino was a two-year varsity player at safety, tight end and linebacker. He contributed on special teams and on defense in his senior season at Central Catholic. He now teaches government and economics and coaches Central Catholic’s freshman team.

Rice was the 2014 and 2015 Stanislaus District Player of the Year, held Central Catholic rushing records and played both offense and defense on state championship teams. After a decorated high school career, Rice played Division I football at Fresno State, Arkansas State and Utah State, starting at running back then switching to linebacker. After college, he played in the Canadian Football League in 2022 before a meniscus injury three games into the year ended his season. Rice returned to the States and is now a pilot.

A new division yet again

In the Raiders’ program, it was dubbed “the division created to take down Central.”

In the modern era of California high school football state championships (2006-current) there have been changes to the state football format, but one year stands out as unique: 2015.

From 2006 to 2014, the state had championships from Divisions I through IV, with large schools playing the D-I game and small schools playing for the D-IV state title.

In 2015, they broke it up into the current format, adding divisions V through VII and incorporating A and AA distinctions in each division — A on the lower end and AA for the higher-level teams. The Open Division, which puts the best teams against one another regardless of division, was added in 2008 and kept its same format since its creation, pitting the two top teams in the state against each other without a regional championship game, except 2012 and 2013, when there were north and south regional championships.

The Raiders won D-IV state titles in 2012, 2013 and 2014. They are still the only school other than De La Salle to win three or more consecutive state titles in the modern era.

For the first and only time, the California high school sports governing body in 2015 implemented a new Small School Open Division state championship. This served a similar purpose as the regular Open, just for small schools. The Raiders would compete against the top teams in the state from Divisions IV to VII. Like any CIF State Championship bracket, they played a Northern California Regional Championship first, and then, with a win, advanced to their fourth straight state title game.

“It was one-and-done,” Pecchenino said of the Small-Schools Open Division.

Playing with house money

At the start of the season, a fourth straight state championship was not on the Raiders’ minds — their focus was more local.

They wanted to beat St. Mary’s and Oakdale, win a VOL title and then four-peat as section champions. The season could have ended right there.

“You beat Oakdale twice, you win a section title, you win a league title and we’re staring there at Marin Catholic and we’re like, ‘You know what, we’re good.’” Pecchenino said. “It was almost house money. And that’s how we played. It was loose. We were still dialed in at practice and we had a lot of fun.”

A 49-14 win against Marin Catholic in the Northern California championship proved the Raiders still had plenty left in the tank after 15 straight weeks of playing. It was their seventh time in eight games scoring more than 40 points and their second-highest scoring output in the section or state playoffs to that point. Justin Rice rushed for 325 yards and five touchdowns on 35 carries, and DaRon Bland and Kekupa’a Freehauf each had interceptions.

“When that Marin Catholic team stepped off the bus, it was the only time in my four years here at Central where I stepped off the bus and said, ‘Oh shoot.’” Pecchenino said. “They were huge. They were massive. The score ended up being what it was, but they had some dudes.”

The 56-21 win in the state championship against San Marino was Bland’s coming-out party. A junior, Bland had two pick-sixes that completely shifted the game’s momentum.

Quarterback Hunter Petlansky tossed a pair of touchdown passes and ran for one more, Rice rushed for two more along with 216 yards, and Montell Bland rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown. Frehauf had a game-high 12 tackles and forced a fumble. Bland’s two pick sixes and Rice’s seven carries, 149 yards and two touchdowns sparked a 28-0 third-quarter run where the Raiders broke the game at Sacramento State wide open, taking it from a 21-14 lead to a 49-14 advantage.

It was a matchup between two 15-0 teams, the best of the best of small-school football in California, and yet the powerful, precise Raiders looked like men lining up against boys.

“Everyone knew what we were there to do,” Rice said. “We were just a man on a mission.”

The Raiders’ perfect season was complete. According to Cal-Hi Sports, since 2014 there have only been three perfect seasons, with 16 wins in the Sac-Joaquin Section: Folsom (2014, 2017) and 2015 Central Catholic.

“It was definitely one of those moments after the state title game where we were like, ‘Wow, we went perfect,’” Rice said. “During it, we were so focused on the next game, one at a time. But when we looked at the record (during the year) it was like, ‘We haven’t lost yet. Let’s not lose this season, if we can.’”

‘You don’t understand what you guys did yet’

There it was, the perfect season. The state championship run was complete.

“That was the one thing we had never done,” Pecchenino said of completing the perfect season, “so that was pretty cool.”

Many members of this team didn’t take much time off, as they went on to play basketball in the winter, baseball and track in the spring.

For 16 seniors, they ended their high school football careers at the top.

Looking back on the roster, it was loaded with talent. Rice went on to play football at Fresno State, Arkansas State and Utah State, and then played professionally, Petlansky continued his career at Columbia, and Bland played at Sacramento State and Fresno State before being drafted to the NFL. This offseason, he signed a contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys.

Freehauf is among the all-time best tacklers in Central Catholic history and was named a MaxPreps Small Schools All-American. His legendary “flu game” in the D-III section title game will be remembered for a long time. He was sent to the emergency room with flulike symptoms the morning of the game and told by doctors not to play. He had 16 tackles in the 21-7 win. Pecchenino went on to have a Division I track and field career at Fresno State and others played at the next level as well.

“We were 17, 18 years old and we were all thinking we’re supposed to win because we worked hard,” Pecchenino said. “I go back to something my father told me. He goes, ‘You don’t understand what you guys did yet. You will when you’re older, but you guys really don’t understand.’ And now that I’m coaching, I see that every season doesn’t always end in a W. We’ve lost some heartbreakers over the years. (Winning with a perfect season) was truly special.”

This story was originally published December 30, 2025 at 11:31 AM.

Quinton Hamilton

The Modesto Bee

Quinton Hamilton covers high school sports for The Modesto Bee. He is a Southern California native and received his bachelor’s degree from Pacific Union College and a master’s in journalism from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. Quinton has worked at the Record-Journal in Meriden and helped on projects at Hearst Connecticut.