Once in a while, all the elements of a tense situation come together to create a heroic saga.

It happened Saturday night for Kaiser’s Canaan Saole. He turned the tide for the Cougars in a 17-7 victory over Kauai for their first football state championship.

Saole took his coaches’ words to heart and successfully executed a punt block that teammate Melvin Kahunanui recovered in the end zone for the go-ahead score with 11:50 left in the Division II final.

"(Assistant) coach Chad (Ikei) told us, ‘You gotta do something to change this game,’ "said Saole, a 6-foot, 180-pound senior linebacker and defensive back. "So I wanted to take it into my hands."

Earlier in the half, with 6:03 left in the third quarter, Saole gave everyone in the stadium a foreshadowing of what was to come. He broke through the line and jumped high in the face of Kauai punter Kalawaia Judd, but somehow, the booted ball got through Saole’s hands and out of danger for the Red Raiders.

Saole said he used a swim move to get past his blockers on both the test run and the actual dagger.

"The first time, I came super close," he said. "I thought I had a chance to tackle him, but at the last second, I saw he was going to punt it, so I held up and jumped. I didn’t want to get a penalty."

The play did not go unnoticed by Kaiser coach Rich Miano.

"We’re usually a punt-return team, not a punt-block team," Miano said. "So, the next time, we asked him, ‘Do you think you can get it?’ He said he could, so we gave him the green light. Canaan has come on so much. He’s so fast and phenomenally explosive."

Ikei thinks Saole can eventually work his way onto a Division I college roster and compares him to former Kahuku safety Al Afalava, who went on to play in the NFL.

"Canaan is a player," Ikei said. "He’s someone who I consider a game-changer. Kauai did an unbelievable job of game-planning for us, and he kick-started us."

Saole said he blocked eight punts and two field goals when he played for Campbell last season. He finished the game with a game-high nine tackles and he also picked up a key first down on the Cougars’ first scoring drive that tied the game at 7-7 late in the third quarter.

On the game-changing punt block, Saole leaped high over Judd’s head and the ball hit his body and bounded into the end zone.

"I will remember it until the day I die," he said about the big block. "I hope to pass that story on some day to my kids and hopefully they can use it as inspiration for whatever they choose to do.

"We sacrificed our whole summer for this. Sacrificed spending time with our family and going to the beach. We gave up everything for this moment."