Van-Far knew this season would bring growing pains with its younger roster.

It had dealt with literal pain in recent weeks via injuries and couldn’t muster the right combination in a 27-8 loss at Westran in a Class 1 District 7 tournament game.

Van-Far (1-9) only trailed 6-0 at halftime in its first playoff meeting with Westran (5-5) after going 2-1 against the Hornets in the regular season the last three years. Head coach Lucas Gibson said Van-Far was still without Bryce Reading despite coming in pretty healthy overall following a bye week. Then Van-Far had a couple concussions that affected its roster.

“Kole Henson had a minor concussion,” Gibson said. “They didn’t think he should play anymore, so we held him out. Once we lost him, it was a snowball effect. We had guys playing out of position again.”

Henson is a freshman but someone who has done a little of everything already. He has run the ball, played good defense, passed a few times and has punted the ball.

Gibson said not having Reading’s blocking hurt the offense. He said the offense hasn’t moved the ball as effectively since he’s been out.

“He’s a big part of the offense,” Gibson said. “His blocking makes a big difference.”

Cayden Douglas has been Van-Far’s biggest weapon with six 150-yard rushing games. Douglas ran for a touchdown as part of his 102 yards on 24 carries prior to Ronnie Stanich catching a two-point conversion. Gibson said Westran knew how much of a threat Douglas presents.

“They did a pretty good job of shutting down Cayden tonight,” Gibson said. “They made good tackles. We just couldn’t block well enough.”

Van-Far lost its first game of the season 32-14 at home to Westran. The Indians ended its 10-game season against Westran believing they have improved.

The Indians season-low in points allowed was 32 points against Westran in the opening game but beat that on Friday. Gibson said the defense has gotten better along with Van-Far’s younger players. Before he had to go out, he said Henson made good tackles with 2.5 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, freshman Ean Utterback had a good game with 4.5 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss, Kashton Rhodes finished with a team-high six tackles, and sophomore Cooper Huff helped the team’s pass coverage.

“They got better,” Gibson said. “They got better on offense, too, but it didn’t show on the scoreboard the last few games. We were playing juniors and seniors, and that makes a difference when it’s if you lose, you’re done. They just outplayed us. I was proud of our guys’ efforts.”