The Advertiser's special four-page edition with the headline "Perfect!" made it onto ESPN and local television stations just seconds after the Warriors' come-from-behind victory against Washington.

The idea of a front page printed in advance and handed out right after the game is not new, but to do it right and get it on the field in front of the cameras requires a lot of luck and perfect timing.

We printed 16,000 copies of the section on the morning of Saturday's game and kept them under wraps in two Advertiser vans until the end of the game. When it was 21-0 Washington after the first quarter, it looked like our time and effort had been wasted. But by halftime, the Warriors had managed to stay within a touchdown of the lead.

With 10 minutes left in the game, Lester Kodama, our single-copy manager, called together his crew of about 40 teenagers who usually hand out our Bowtime football programs and hid the papers in garbage bags. The teens remained outside the gates to hand the papers to departing fans while Kodama went inside with a bundle of 300 papers.

Only two minutes remained when I called Kodama from the sidelines. When I got his voicemail, I started to get nervous. It was important that the papers get into the hands of players just as the game ended so they could get maximum exposure.

With 44 seconds left, Colt Brennan connected with Jason Rivers for the lead, and I connected with Kodama. But with the stadium roaring, we had a hard time hearing each other as we tried to arrange a meeting spot. I was at the 10-yard line on the mauka side, and I needed Kodama to meet me at the 20-yard line. Just then, I saw Alvin Katahara, our market development director, and Jay Higa, our classified advertising director, arrive and ready to help.

Kodama appeared from the stands just in time, and we raced toward him, tearing into the bundle. Fans were eager to get copies, and someone grabbed four from the stack. But by the time we turned to the field, Washington had a first down at the Hawai'i 4-yard line. It appeared the Huskies were going to tie the game, and Kodama grabbed two of the papers back. The other two made their first appearance on national television.

We hid 200 papers as best we could while praying Washington would not tie the game. Ryan Mouton's interception with three seconds remaining had everyone swarming the field, and the pages felt safe to hand out. I approached coach June Jones with a copy but he was hustling everyone off the field because there was still time to play.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann got the first copy and UH athletic director Herman Frazier got the second. Then the players and coaches got the next batch. The players must have thought we literally printed the paper on the spot, judging from their puzzled looks.

Kodama was mobbed in the stands as he passed out about 100 papers. Then he got word back to the teens to break open the garbage bags and man the gates for the cheering fans leaving the game. Katahara, Higa and I remained on the field as players started mugging for the cameras and holding the pages aloft.

But there were 1,000 papers left that Katahara smartly held back for the next day's rally at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Five minutes after the gates were open that Sunday, the papers were gone. Only a few precious copies remain in our possession.

"It was good to see the fans were so passionate about UH and what the team has done," Katahara said. "They were hungry for something that was a souvenir of a memorable season."

Mark Platte is senior vice president/editor of The Honolulu Advertiser. Reach him at mplatte@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8080.