New London — Unruly fan behavior forced the suspension of Friday night’s football game between New London and Thames River at Cannamela Field.

There were a couple of incidents in or near the stands between fans in the first half, including a fight near the concession stand.

New London athletic director Phil Orbe decided to stop the home opener at halftime.

“There was some unruly behavior that came to a point where it was very difficult to control, so in the name of safety I made a decision to suspend the game at halftime,” Orbe said. “A lot of the stuff had nothing to do with the game on the field and had nothing to do with the two fan bases.

“It was more or less things that had happened outside the game that came to a head.”

Orbe praised the New London police for their efforts.

“They did everything we could ask,” Orbe said. “We had five officers here. Then they called a bunch of other patrols in, too. The police did a really good job. Our security team did a really good job. It just came to a point where for the safety of the players and the people in attendance we had to suspend the game.

“... I always err on the side of safety and caution, so it was the last measure. We did everything we could to continue the game, it just didn’t work.”

The game will be resumed on Monday at a time and site to be announced.

The two teams had come out of the locker room for the second half and remained on the field while fans headed to the parking lot.

“I don’t have all the information,” New London coach Bobby Sanchez said. “I know there were apparently a few fights in the stands that they deemed were threatening to officials and players coming back on the field. It’s a bummer because we were playing well.”

New London and Thames River both entered Friday’s action searching for the first win of the season. Mistakes piled up, as the Whalers and Crusaders combined for 16 penalties and three turnovers before halftime.

The Whalers fell behind 8-0 in the first quarter on Anthony Santacroce’s 23-yard scoring run and then lost a fumble on their first possession before finally finding some traction.

They scored 26 points in the second quarter to carry a 26-8 lead into the locker room.

Quarterback Jack Philistin connected with fellow senior Tyree Barnes for a 21-yard touchdown pass to jump-start the Whalers on the first play of the second quarter.

Barnes delivered another big play, returning a punt 42 yards for a touchdown for a 14-8 edge.

Next, Philistin threw a beautiful deep pass to sophomore Cayden Simonds Gaskin, who caught the ball in stride and finished off the 41-yard touchdown play. Philistin finished off a productive first half with a nine-yard touchdown run.

But the Whalers never got a chance to add to that total in the second half.

“We’ve seen nothing but adversity this entire time, starting off with Daniel Hand, the defending state champion, and then going to Windham, a scrappy bunch of players,” Sanchez said. “A lot of things didn’t go our way there. We talked about adversity.

“(Tonight), we gave up a score and fumbled on the first possession. Defensively, we want to be stronger. And we’ve been playing stronger now. So there’s definitely growth.”

‘’We’ll play anytime, anywhere,” Sanchez said “We talk about things you can control, worrying about things you can control, next play mentality. And this is exactly that right now. There’s always a lesson to be learned.”

g.keefe@theday.com