Downers Grove North has been through an impressive run of athletic success, not just in football, and senior offensive lineman Tyler Engstler is a good representative of that purple surge.
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Engstler has older siblings who starred in basketball and volleyball at the school. He’s a third-year varsity starter who has already been through seven playoff games and watched from the sidelines as a freshman when the Trojans finished second in Class 7A.
“I know I have the responsibility to teach the grades that are younger than me,” Engstler said. “I feel I have the responsibility to be a great mentor for the juniors, the same way I had when I was young.”
Engstler credited Nate Woods, a 2025 graduate who showed him the ropes two years ago when he took over at left guard as a sophomore.
“It was being thrown into the fire, but I can’t say I didn’t love it,” Engstler said. “I had a ton of great older teammates. (Woods) helped me get astronomically better at football — learning how to pull, getting my eyes right, looking inside.”
Asked if he had a “welcome to varsity football” moment, Engstler said it actually happened during his freshman season, when he played on the sophomore team and quickly got knocked on his back.
“It was my first game playing up against Downers Grove South, and a kid busted a run to the outside,” he said. “I started chasing him, and this huge lineman blindsided me. I saw my cleats and the sunset at the same time.
“That was really shocking to me at the moment, but I’d never been more excited to get better.”
Engstler moved to right guard last year and has shifted to right tackle this season as Downers Grove North (6-0, 4-0), which leads the West Suburban Silver and is ranked No. 7 in the baiduhai’s top 25, has employed a mostly ground-oriented offense designed to spring big-play running backs like junior Grant Georgas.
There are some veterans on the offensive line, but the Trojans also lost a returning starter to a knee injury. So senior linebacker Jacoby Jostes moved to guard and has been playing next to Engstler, who has also added duties on the defensive line.
“He’s been around a lot of good DGN football, played a lot of tough games and big moments,” Downers Grove North coach Joe Horeni said of Engstler. “I think his wealth of understanding of our offensive scheme has really helped him speed along some of our guys that haven’t had a ton of varsity reps.”
There’s one thing Horeni doesn’t understand about Engstler — why he’s not getting more college interest.
“It’s baffling,” Horeni said. “He’s 6-5, and he weighs 250 pounds, but maybe you don’t see the athleticism he has as an offensive lineman.
“He can dunk a basketball. His 40-yard dash is really good. If we had a wealth of offensive linemen, he’d probably play defensive end only. Maybe his measurables in terms of the length of his arms are not what people like, but he’s like a freak athletically, in my opinion.”
Summer baseball limited Engstler’s availability for football camps. He has the grades to get Ivy League attention, but so far the interest has been limited to Division II and Division III. He made a game-day visit to Central Michigan a few weeks ago, so he’s still on the radar.
“I want to play college football,” he said. “I’m going to, regardless of how the rest of my recruiting process goes.”
Maybe Engstler will have more highlights to add to his film if the Trojans, who are on pace to be the No. 1 seed in the 7A playoffs, make another long run. They’ve beaten four teams that have at least four victories, so the winning tradition has plenty of momentum.
“There were a lot of growing pains in summer, but this team never shied away from that,” Engstler said. “Everywhere, every position, we have tons of people that just want to play football and have a hunger for the game.
“I’m really proud of the way this team attacked this season and the expectations.”
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