It wasn’t a lack of effort, but a lack of experience for Van-Far on Friday night.

The Indians had their two-game winning streak against Westran snapped with a 32-14 loss to the Hornets at home. Van-Far fell behind 14-0 at halftime and scored its first touchdowns of the season on special teams with a punt and kick return from Cayden Douglas. 

Head coach Lucas Gibson said he definitely liked the effort from his team, but it was clear Van-Far this year has “about 90 percent” of the roster hadn’t played varsity until Friday.

“The times we put the ball on the ground were several,” Gibson said. “We had a couple costly penalties. You have them in practice but knowing what they can and can’t do in a game is different.”

Gibson said a pass interference penalty on defense extended a Westran drive, but he took the blame for a delay of game penalty when Van-Far advanced to the Westran 5-yard line, which resulted in the Indians not scoring on that drive.

Van-Far fell behind more at halftime after losing the ball in the end zone, on a play call for which Gibson took blame, but he said the first half was a field-position struggle.

“We were backed up basically around our own end zone or inside the 10-yard line for several plays,” Gibson said.

Douglas didn’t play last year because of injury, so Gibson said it was nice seeing the junior make big plays already. Gibson said the Westran coach even said Douglas was “scary” to them after he finished with 77 rushing yards on 15 carries and 161 return yards. On defense, Bryce Reading led with 8.5 tackles.

Gibson said Van-Far should expect a different look from Russellville (1-0) on the road at 7 p.m. Friday, specifically a triple-option type offense.

“I was proud of the guys for the effort they gave,” Gibson said. “I hope they can keep their spirits up and keep grinding.”