New London — Bobby Sanchez was standing off to the side early Thursday afternoon at New London High School’s Cannamela Field, watching his team dance and soaking it all in.

New London had just beaten Norwich Free Academy 35-13 in the most recent edition of the oldest high school football rivalry in the nation. NFA played what was then the Bulkeley School, later New London, for the first time on May 12, 1875, with this being the 161st meeting.

It was the first for Sanchez, New London’s first-year head coach, and the game, then the celebration said everything better than a postgame speech could.

“What am I going to say to them? What could be better?” Sanchez said. “They all have done this more than I have.

“Throughout the week, they were asking me to talk at, like, pep rallies and everything like that. I’m like, ‘I haven’t even coached this game yet.’”

The Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I game’s highlights revolved around 5-foot-7, 150-pound junior wide receiver/defensive back Tyree Barnes, who finished with four touchdowns, each one more dazzling than the next, making it into a happy Thanksgiving for certain for the Whalers (6-4, 2-3).

Barnes ran for a 53-yard touchdown on his only rushing attempt to put the Whalers up 7-0 (combined with the extra point from Edwidge Cenat). He ran back a kick 77 yards for a touchdown with 14.6 seconds remaining in the first quarter to give the Whalers a 14-7 edge.

In the third quarter, with New London up 21-7, quarterback Jack Philistin tossed a ball to Barnes in the back left corner of the end zone which Barnes grabbed for a 17-yard touchdown before falling out of bounds. The official nearest to Barnes waited to make sure he caught the ball before signaling the touchdown and causing pandemonium on the Whalers’ sideline.

And one more time with 4:37 remaining in the game, after New London had thwarted an NFA rally, Philistin hit Barnes, who danced down the right sideline before cutting back to the middle of the field for a 38-yard touchdown to make it 35-13.

“I would say the kick return was the funnest,” said Barnes, who who will next run the 55 meters, the 300 and the 4x200 for the indoor track team. “For sure, it’s my best game.

“It was a big game for our seniors. I wanted to show up for them. I wanted to work for them. I think this means a lot for the seniors. This was their sendoff, this last game for New London.”

Sanchez said if he had to pick someone on the team to personify the standards he would like to see his players hold themselves to, it would be Barnes.

“How much time do you have?” Sanchez asked, answering questions about Barnes. “He’s special. He’s a special player. He’s a special person. He’s a straight A student, ROTC, he does ROTC, he’s a track star, he’s a tremendous two-way football player, he’s the epitome of a two-way football player.

“Today out of all days, we were able to get him the ball in spots and you can see the result. He’s just a tremendous talent.”

Senior captain Derek Burres also scored for New London with a minute remaining in the second quarter, capping a 99-yard drive.

On that possession, Demitrias Fletcher (19 carries, 64 yards; 3 catches, 68 yards) did the toughest work, getting the Whalers, with their backs to the goal line, a first down. On third-and-5 from the 12, Philistin completed a 41-yard pass to Kyntrel Dessources and the Whalers had 15 yards tacked on as the result of an NFA penalty.

Burres scored from 11 yards out to make it 21-7 at halftime.

With New London leading 28-7 on Barnes’ catch in the corner of the end zone, however, NFA’s Conor Gaughan ran back the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, pulling within 28-12, and the Wildcats (3-7, 1-4) recovered an onside kick.

NFA drove all the way to the New London 27 with a chance to pull within one score before New London senior captain John Mancuso intercepted a pass to quell the Wildcats’ momentum.

NFA tried several more schemes, moving quarterback Gage Hinkley to wide receiver, where he caught a handful of passes, but the Wildcats turned the ball over twice more, with New London’s Tony Carmona intercepting a pass and Christopher Jones recovering a fumble, both in the fourth quarter.

Earlier in the week, New London’s 17 seniors presented jerseys to adults in the building who have impacted their lives. Sanchez calls them “one of the most special groups I’ve ever coached.”

“Everything circling this game, the energy and the emotions, for a coach it’s like, ‘How do you channel those emotions into productivity?’” Sanchez said. “... When I was in the locker room, I told them, ‘It’s going to be emotional, it’s going to be energy. I want you to grab that but then don’t forget our standards.’”

v.fulkerson@theday.com