Pair of Cougars represent West team in all-star game in Yakima

A pair of Cascade Christian Cougars closed out their prep football careers Saturday at the Earl Barden East-West All-Star Classic at East Valley High in Yakima.

Cascade Christian’s Peyton Berry and Jared Flattum were selected to the West team, and Berry won the West defensive MVP award for his efforts in shutting down his side of the field from the cornerback spot. Unfortunately, the West suffered a 25-0 loss to the East.

“It was good (experience), and it was an honor to be selected like that and to go out (representing) Cascade Christian football,” said Berry, who will head to Central Washington University in the fall.

Brian Flattum, the Cougars’ offensive coordinator and Jared’s father, took over offensive line coaching duties last week, as West and Squalicum head coach Nick Lucey installed the Storm offense.

“We ended up losing (but) we were able to go out there and compete. We just weren’t able to play as well as we wanted to,” Jared Flattum said.

Undersized and overlooked — that was the theme that seemed to always follow Berry and Flattum as they progressed through their football careers.

But heart is taught as much as skills sets are in coach Randy Davis’ program. It’s the cornerstone of what the Cascade Christian team stands for.

“They really deserved to be selected to the team. They worked really hard in the weight room and on the field to get there,” Davis said.

“Both Jared and Peyton have done really grown since they’ve started playing for us at Cascade Christian,” Brian Flattum said. “They’re both undersized, but they never played that way.”

An unquestionable will to work, and in turn, produce results, which led both being selected to the West team.

It was also how Berry took over the defensive side of the game, as the Cougar cornerback displayed exactly what Class 1A Nisqually League opponents experience when facing Cascade Christian at Sunset Chev Stadium over the seasons.

“(East quarterbacks) thought that because I’m smaller they could take advantage of me. I stopped each pass every time they tried to come at me,” Berry said. “It didn’t matter what the receivers they put in front of me.”

It was one heck of a way for both Berry and Flattum — friends in the weight room, on the football field and even better ones off of it — to end their high school careers.

For Berry, he overcame the biggest obstacles many athletes face in high school. An injury derailed much of his junior season — including eliminating him from playing in the Tacoma Dome for the 2014 state championship team.

“That was tough, but I was able to come back and have a strong year,” Berry, who reached the Dome in wrestling for the Mat Classic XXVIII, as well as played soccer in the spring. “It was a good year.”

For Jared, his summer will be short as the future center for the Whitworth Pirates will be joining his teammates in August once camp begins.

“It was kind of sad to think about, but it was also cool to think about still having a few more years to play (at Whitworth),” Jared said.

Sometimes, there are no answers to the end. Nothing left but emotions of never suiting up with a longtime friend, or seeing them walk away. It’s always tough — for either party involved.

“I’m not sure what I want to (focus) on at Central, but I know I just want to be a student,” Berry said.

Now, as both of Berry and Jared’s high school athletic careers come to a close, their legacy with the Cougars has been sealed. But that was already done through the hours and years both have put into the program.

“They’re two of the hardest workers we’ve had,” Brian Flattum said. “Each day, they both demonstrated what it means to play (Cougar) football.”

This story was originally published June 29, 2016 at 11:17 AM with the headline "Pair of Cougars represent West team in all-star game in Yakima."