Lincoln-Way East Downs Oak Park-River Forest in Class 8A Playoffs
Lincoln-Way East quarterback Tyler Spychalski completed 14 of 19 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 33 yards to lead the Griffins to a 31-7 victory over Oak Park-River Forest in a Class 8A first-round playoff game in Frankfort on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026.
The win moves the Griffins to 10-0 on the season and sets up a second-round matchup against either Von Steuben or Hinsdale Central. For Spychalski, the start marked a pivotal return to the field after an injury-plagued career arc that limited him to one junior varsity game in 2025 due to three hamstring injuries. He threw just four passes during the regular season as the backup to junior quarterback Evan LeFevour.
LeFevour went down with an injury during the final game of the regular season, giving Spychalski two weeks to prepare over a first-round bye. I knew I was ready,
Spychalski said. I trusted my teammates and believed in myself. There are always nerves before a game, but I couldn’t wait to get out here with my teammates and just have fun.
Shuffled Offense Relies on Depth
Lincoln-Way East played without LeFevour and leading receiver Jayden Cawthon. Running backs Aidan Cavanaugh and Ryan E. Harris also left the game with injuries, forcing coach Lance Lokanc to deploy seven different players in the running game.
Jack Murphy stepped up as a dual-threat weapon, rushing for 70 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries while catching six passes for 89 yards and another score. Every pass I got was right on the money,
Murphy said of Spychalski. I have no complaints. He played a phenomenal game.
Oak Park-River Forest finished its season at 5-6. Senior quarterback Liam Brown paced the Huskies with 199 yards passing, including a 62-yard touchdown strike to Andrew Heinzmann in the second quarter that narrowed the Griffins’ lead to 14-7.
Defensive Standouts and College Attention
Michael Simonetti anchored the Lincoln-Way East defense with an interception, and Henry Bohms recorded two sacks.
Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar praised Spychalski’s preparation. Tyler is one of those kids who shows up every day and works his tail off,
Zvonar said. He’ll do anything he can to help the team, whether it was being on the scout team or stepping in. I’m really proud of him.
At 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, Spychalski entered the game with limited game film for college scouts. However, he has recently received text messages from Columbia University coaches. I don’t know,
Spychalski said regarding how the program found him. I just got some texts from them. I haven’t really been to any camps. It just came out of the blue. They said they couldn’t wait to see me out there. I was like, ‘Whoa.’ I would for sure love to go to an Ivy League school. It’s a great program.
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