Ledyard — There hadn't been a celebration like this on the home field in a while, not since the days when Jim Buonocore, their old coach, would yell play calls like "pistachio" at his players.

And then came Friday night and a stuffed two-point conversion in overtime, leading to Ledyard High School's mad dash to midfield, to celebrate a wild, 21-20 win over Montville at muddy, mushy Bill Mignault Field.

Ledyard's defense used every morsel of moxie it had remaining, halting Montville running back Jayden Long no more than a gnat's eyelash short of the goal line, thwarting the two-point conversion. Montville coach Tanner Grove pleaded his case to the officials, who ruled Long's knee was down before he reached for the end zone with the ball.

Result: an official winning streak — two games — in the land of Ledyard.

"Wow," Ledyard coach Clay Killingsworth said. "Just a lot of emotions right now. The guys just don't quit. That's the biggest thing. We've been talking to them about holding the rope."

Grove: "We thought (Long) reached over the line before going down, at least from my vantage point. We thought he got in. The officials said his knee as down. Not much we can do. We don't have instant replay in high school football."

The Colonels (2-2) trailed 14-7 late in the third period when Matt Thornton's interception set up Anthony Rose's 28-yard touchdown run. Ledyard survived a fumble on its own 38 with 4:13 left, stopping Montville (1-3) on downs.

Quarterback Jacob Sylvia nearly threw a long, game-winning touchdown pass to Jaiden Bickham in the closing seconds, but Bickham dropped the ball. Bickham, however, would be heard from again.

James Smith's 12-yard gain on second and goal from the 13 set up the go ahead score in overtime, Sylvia's one-yard plunge. Then came Bickham and the extra point. Not easy, given the field looked a lot like Beef Wellington by game's end.

Bickham went boom, as he did on his other two extra point attempts, giving Ledyard a 21-14 lead.

"We practice on this field all week. We know where the best spots are," Bickham said. "Home field advantage."

Bickham also authored perhaps the game's biggest play, a 99-yard touchdown reception late in the first half. Consider: To that point, Ledyard had possession of the ball for all of three minutes, running five plays to Montville's 29. The score, however, was only 6-0.

Sylvia was nearly sacked in the end zone the play earlier — the Montville sideline howled for a safety — before third and 21 from the Ledyard 1.

Bickham caught a screen pass, nearly dropped it, nearly slipped and then went 99 yards down the sideline.

"When that play was called," Bickham said, "I was thinking, 'this might work.'"

Bickham was exhausted after the 99-yard run. The Colonels took an intentional delay of game before the extra point, giving him time to breathe.

Dominic Emmons scored on a 3-yard run in the first period to give Montville a 6-0 lead, completing a 94-yard, 9-minute, 42-second drive. Marcus Velez caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Douchette in the third period for the Indians.

Montville possessed the ball for more than 18 minutes in the first half, but trailed 7-6 at halftime.

"Wins are hard to come by," Grove said. "We gave it a shot and came up a little short, I guess."

m.dimauro@theday.com