On the surface, Scotts Valley senior Tyler Stow had a tremendous final season of high school football, taking over as the Falcons’ starting quarterback and emerging as the Santa Cruz County Athletic League Co-Offensive Player of the Year. Dig deeper, however, and Stow’s final year as a prep athlete goes beyond superb, and certainly, among the most inspirational.
Last April, Stow and his family were at home when his step-father, Sam Kain, suffered a massive heart attack. His mother, Jackey Kain, immediately started CPR on her husband, and Tyler took over when she began to fatigue and slow down. It turned out, however, that Sam had multiple blood clots, which blocked the main valve to his heart. No amount of resuscitation efforts were going to work.
“Tyler’s actions were absolutely mind-blowing. He used his training, and shoved me aside to take over (CPR) when he saw me slowing down,” Kain said. “That night, he told myself and Coach (Louie) Walters that he knew who to dedicate the season to.”
Tyler sat behind senior Nick Reyes as a junior, but prepared himself both mentally and physically after the year concluded, committed to success in his senior season.
“Last year’s graduating class taught this year’s leaders so much, and (Nick) Reyes showed me a lot personally,” Stow said. “I started to realize that it took so much more than just physical ability. I had to learn how to be a leader.”
Even prior to Sam’s death, Tyler had learned how to battle back from adversity. On the final day of March in 2011, his father, Bryan Stow, was beaten after a Giants-Dodgers opening day game. In the aftermath of that event, which has received national attention, Tyler watched his dad emerge from a nine-month coma, re-learning basic tasks like how to walk and talk again.
“The age I was at the time (sixth grade), I didn’t fully understand the severity of the situation,” Tyler said, recalling the events of his dad’s recovery. “But looking at it now, it is ridiculous that he has improved as much as he has. Seeing all the work he has put in, I’m really proud of him, and it only serves as extra motivation. How can I ever complain about being tired, compared to what he has gone through?”
That motivation, and plenty of support from those around him, helped craft what has become a legendary work ethic at Scotts Valley. As soon as his junior season ended, Stow met with Walters, who has been at the helm of the Falcons’ football program since the school opened in 1999. The two of them outlined a plan for the up-and-coming signal caller, one which Tyler not only followed, but exceeded without fail on a daily basis.
“(Tyler) has deserved everything he has gotten this year,” Walters said. “He works harder than anyone I have ever had, and is such a gifted leader. We were young this year, and he led us to a 7-3 (regular season) record, despite starting seven sophomores. Not a day went by that he wasn’t preparing for his senior season.”
The season didn’t start the way that Stow had envisioned, with back-to-back losses against playoff programs Los Altos and Carmel. But the loss to Carmel, who went unbeaten in the regular season, came with a silver lining. The Falcons pushed the Padres into overtime, losing 22-21. Stow hit an open receiver in the end zone on what would have been the game-winning two-point conversion, but the ball was dropped.
“We wanted to see how he would bounce back from that,” Walters said. “We beat Watsonville and then (MBL-Pacific champion) Seaside in the next two weeks, and we knew after those games, that he was pretty good.”
Tyler went on to break multiple league records, including 18 touchdown passes in league games alone. In a mid-October game against rival San Lorenzo Valley, he threw a school-record five touchdown passes, with 257 yards through the air, as the Falcons broke a 7-7 tie at the half and prevailed 35-14. He then duplicated his five-score performance in the final regular season game of the year, against Santa Cruz, clinching a playoff berth for Scotts Valley.
The lone blemish on the league slate was a 21-14 loss to perennial champion Aptos, who won three straight section titles before opting up into one of the open divisions this season.
“The game I learned the most from was the Carmel game, and I think that was the turning point in our season,” Stow said. “Our two big games are always SLV and Aptos. We really thought we were going to take that (Aptos) game this year, and prepared so many extra hours for them. But it also left us with another lesson, that no matter how hard you think you have worked, you can always work harder.”
For the season, Stow finished with 1,932 yards passing and 25 touchdowns. All of that from a player who did not see the field until his senior year.
“The hand he has been dealt in life is not the normal hand for any high school student,” said Walters, who has known the family since Tyler was born. “But he persevered through all of it.”
If anyone else deserves credit for Tyler’s fortitude and ability to overcome adversity, it is certainly his mother. Kain is the varsity softball coach at Scotts Valley, and a good one. Two seasons ago, her team went 24-6, including a perfect record in league play and an appearance in the CCS Division 3 championship game. And her mentality has laid the foundation for her children to succeed in life.
“My kids have seen way more tragedy than they should have to,” Kain said. “I told them they had to choose which direction to go.”
Kain and her first husband, Bryan, remained close after their divorce in 2005, and she credits his recovery as something her children have gained strength from. Tyler’s younger sister, Tabitha Stow, is a 14-year old freshman at Scotts Valley, and Kain has a third child from her marriage to Sam, third-grader Matthew. All the children have witnessed their mother battle multiple personal battles, and yet continue to lead by example.
The family also took care of Jackey’s disabled mother, who moved in with the family as she began to fight both breast cancer and lung cancer. Sam was then diagnosed with testicular cancer last January, and started chemotherapy in March. The radiation treatments contributed to the blood clots and pulmonary embolism which took his life in April. What followed after that, however, was a continued response from her oldest son which has left her in awe.
“I always knew my kids would be strong, but (Tyler) has exceeded that expectation,” Kain said. “His goal was just to have a good season, and he exceeded that.”
Kain is also quick to give credit to Walters, who came to the house the night that Sam passed away.
“(Louie) has been a great role model, a father figure, someone who has made Tyler work hard,” Kain said. “Through everything, Tyler became a man overnight.”
Stow now plans on attending Cabrillo College for the next two years, but will likely not play football, instead focusing on his studies in kinesiology, and his work as a personal trainer. The lessons he has learned will now be passed down to those who are fortunate to be part of his future path.
“I just want people to understand that even in the worst adversity, there is a message and a lesson at the end, something God wants you to realize,” Stow stated. “It’s how you respond to what happens in life that will define who you are.”
For his part, Stow’s response to what has happened in life has been nothing short of amazing.
