April 19, 2024
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Lockport grad Gabriel Amegatcher hoping to spark defensive turnaround at NIU

By Eddie Carifio
Northern Illinois cornerback Gabriel Amegatcher catches a pass during a drill in their first spring practice Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in the Chessick Practice Center at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

Northern Illinois cornerback Gabriel Amegatcher catches a pass during a drill in their first spring practice Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in the Chessick Practice Center at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com/Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.co)

DeKALB – After five years in Nebraska, Gabriel Amegatcher is coming home. Or at least closer to home.

The Lockport graduate opened spring practices with the NIU football team last week. He had been with Nebraska-Kearney since 2018.

“They showed me a lot of love compared to the other offers I got,” Amegatcher said. “They were showing me a lot of interest and they told me they needed me, so I was like, why not?”

Amegatcher played 13 games in 2021 for UNK with 11 tackles, two fumble recoveries and an interception. He made nine tackles in four games last season.

He joins an NIU pass defense that ranked 101st out of 131 NCAA Division I teams. The Huskies finished last season 3-9 after winning the Mid-American Conference in 2021. Not only did they surrender 252.8 yards per game, but the 8.4 yards per pass was the eighth-worst average in NCAA Division I football last year.

Amegatcher is not the only new face at cornerback. Although the Huskies lost Eric Rogers and Jordan Gandy through the transfer portal, Amegatcher and Shaad Dabney (Kansas) came on board.

“Obviously we want to take it the next step in the right direction,” Amegatcher said. “Yeah, we lost a couple guys. ... and we don’t have a [cornerbacks] coach right now, but we’re really honing in on the technique with what we do have.”

Throw Amegatcher and Dabney in with returners such as juniors Jashon Prophetter and JaVaughn Byrd, sophomore Ty Myles and freshmen Jacob Finley and Amariyun Knightley, and the team is very optimistic about the chances of a turnaround.

“We look really good, honestly,” Amegatcher said. “A lot of guys are young but they are really talented. Shaad and Byrd and Finn and Nuney [Knighten] they’re very talented at what they do. It’s a lot of competition and we all support one another. We all ride together.”

NIU defensive coordinator Nick Benedetto said Amegatcher has added a lot to the cornerback group.

“You can tell he’s got a passion and a love for the game, whether it’s meeting, whether it’s on the field, whether it’s extra time in the weight room, he loves it,” Benedetto said. “He’s hard on himself but he’s always trying to find a way to get better.”

Head coach Thomas Hammock, entering his fifth year with the program, said the biggest improvement he wants to see out of the secondary is the group be dominant competitors every day.

He said that extends beyond the field and into the classroom and team meetings, as well. And he said that’s what he’s seen so far.

“They’ve been phenomenal from a leadership standpoint, from an experience standpoint, from a competitive standpoint,” Hammock said of Dabney and Amegatcher. “Through two practices, they’ve done what they’ve needed to do. On Sunday, the heat’s going to turn up and I expect them to rise to the occasion.”