OTTUMWA — Michael Wetrich broke for the ball and headed for home.

Clint Utter exercised his big-play, game-changing capability and Justin Rusch proved he’s a show-stopper.

Last, but definitely not least, Zach Wigle proudly accepted the game ball.

It all added up to a 21-14 win for the Ottumwa Bulldog football team over Newton on Friday night.

It was the first victory for Wigle, Ottumwa’s new head coach.

Big plays were the order of the day for his squad on this night.

“It just kind of came down to who made less of the mistakes, and tonight we did,” and Wigle.

Wetrich’s interception on a slant route on 3rd-and-8 with Newton knocking on the door inside the Bulldog 10-yard line started off a chain of impact plays for Ottumwa fans.

Already leading by a touchdown and looking to tack on seven more, Newton quarterback Dustin Brisel fired the errant throw near the goal line. Wetrich read it perfectly and headed for daylight. Ninety-five yards later, Wetrich tossed the pigskin to the referee in the end zone after the momentum-changing play made it a whole new ball game at 7-7.

Wetrich talked about the play, which materialized in an instant and can be considered one of the longest interception returns in OHS history.

“It was a short drop and luckily I read it right and made a play,” said Wetrich. “It made me tired, that was for sure. I made sure I caught it first, that was the big issue.”

Wetrich’s interception did more than just knot up the game on the scoreboard.

“That’s something we were talking about the whole time — the defense needs to make a play. He came up big and took it to the house,” said Ottumwa junior quarterback Adam Goodvin. “It got our offense excited. We came out and were ready to go.”

Newton struck first on a 39-yard rushing jaunt down left sideline at the 6:41 mark of the first quarter by Cardinal tailback Mike Flanagan.

The game was tied 7-7 at intermission.