CAPAC — The Capac varsity football team saw to it they would prevail, earning a 20-8 win at host North Huron’s expense in a North Central Thumb League matchup last Thursday.

It was the season-opener for both combatants.

“This was a big win for our kids,” Capac Coach Robert Novy said. “North Huron took it to us on the first drive of the game but Derek Mason made a huge play by forcing a fumble and it went through the endzone for a touchback,” he noted.

“We then came back with a touchdown and a two-point conversion on our first drive. Tonight we had some good performances from a lot of guys. Our offensive line of James Meadows, Brian Canelo and Max Klein held up against a much larger opponent. We also got great senior leadership from Aden Uribe-Arce, Adam Kramer plus Blake Phillips and Matt Lee ran the ball great for us.”

In Thursday’s matchup, Capac jumped out to an 8-0 advantage after one quarter was complete.

Quarter two saw North Huron bounce back with an 8-6 edge, closing the gap to 14-8 at the half.

When the action resumed, Capac struck with a 6-0 third quarter advantage. That left them up 20-8 with 36 minutes gone.

Quarter number four would be scoreless, leaving Capac with a win to celebrate at night’s end.

Capac generated their 20-point total aided by a Carlos Uribe-Arce 22-yard touchdown run (followed by a Carlos Uribe-Arce to Wyatt Hurley PAT pass); a Carlos Uribe-Arce to Hurley 22-yard touchdown pass; and an Aden Uribe-Arce two-yard touchdown run.

For the night, Carlos Uribe-Arce completed nine of 11 passes for 119 yards as Capac’s quarterback. He threw zero interceptions en route to those numbers.

His successful tosses were distributed to four different targets. Their ranks consisted of Hurley (four catches for 64 yards), Derek Mason (three receptions for 40 yards), Blake Phillips (one catch for nine yards) and Aden Uribe-Arce (one reception for six yards).

Mason was the other Capac player who opted to air out the football. His lone attempt went for an incompletion.

The Capac ground attack added 219 yards on 43 totes.

Individually, Mason (eight rushes for 74 yards), Lee (73 yards on 12 totes) and Aden Uribe-Arce (seven rushes for 38 yards) proved Capac’s toughest players to stop. The remaining 16 Chief totes netted a combined 34-yard gain.

Kramer (eight solos and two assists) notched Capac’s top tackle output. Carlos Uribe-Arce (six unassisted stops) plus Hurley and Phillips (five solos and one assisted tackle each), Aden Uribe-Arce (four unassisted stops) and Lee (three solos and one assist) supported his performance.

Capac will aim to make it two wins in as many outings when it entertains Deckerville this Wednesday. The North Central Thumb League encounter begins at 7 p.m.

Kevin Kissane

Kevin Kissane has been covering high school sports for the Tri-City Times since 1985. When not standing on a field or court with his camera and notepad, he enjoys golf, travel and family. Kevin is a 1980 graduate of Capac High School, and is also a grad of St. Clair Community College and earned a degree in journalism from Central Michigan University.