Sports

Published November 6, 2026 10:51pm | Updated November 6, 2026 10:56pm

This was a bit of cinema Matt Wibbels hoped to skip.

The Vista Ridge football coach watched a double-digit second-half lead evaporate Friday night to a one-score game at home in the 4A playoff opener.

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Nothing like a little drama to keep the film interesting, but, spoiler, Vista Ridge staved off a comeback from Longmont to win 34-31.

“We’re about our seniors, and they lead us on offense and on defense,” Wibbels said. “We ride them, and we have kids like Malachi, Evan Warren, Deshaun Drain and Mikal (Heganbart). They won’t let us quit, and they keep leading us and we follow them. I’m proud of how tough they are.”

Vista Ridge , the No. 14 seed, took a 14-10 lead into the break as touchdowns by Malachi Arnds-Volcin and Daniel McFarland paced the Wolves (7-4) in the opening half.

McFarland scored on the Wolves’ first drive of the second half to build a 20-10 lead with 7:07 left in the third quarter.…