Saint Louis' Marcus Mariota rolls out of the pocket in a game against Roosevelt on August 13, 2010. The game marked the first start at quarterback for Mariota, where he passed for 3 touchdowns and ran for another in a win over the Rough Riders. Brien Ing | SL

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Marcus Mariota poses with a Tennesee Titans jersey at the end of a press conference held at the Saint Louis Alumni Clubhouse. Brien Ing | SL

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Former Saint Louis quarterback Marcus Mariota made history Thursday, selected as the second overall pick by the Tennessee Titans to become the highest draft selection ever of a player with Hawaii ties, undoubtedly a significant one for family, friends and supporters in the Islands and beyond.

"Way, way, way more, but to even get to this point right now and to sit with family and friends and to enjoy that moment was so special and it was just, again, a lot of excitement," said Mariota when asked if the expectation matched the moment he was drafted. "I'm looking forward to this new chapter and I'm just thankful and grateful."

Mariota's selection is the first NFL draft ScoringLive has ever covered, but what people might not know is that ScoringLive and Mariota have previously shared a little bit of history, specifically on a certain Friday night under the lights at Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium back on August 13, 2010.

Mariota took the field for the first time as a starter for Saint Louis against Roosevelt that evening, while at the same time, Wes Nakama hurriedly advanced up the stairs leading to the press box while I heading in the opposite direction to find a spot along the far sidelines, to mark a different kind of first.

The preseason contest between the Rough Riders and the Crusaders was the first game ever covered by ScoringLive, then a little known sports news startup consisting of just a trio of former colleagues simply looking to try and help fill the coverage void left when the two major Hawaii dailies merged.

Mariota, who at the time himself was also a fairly unknown commodity, finished the evening 9-of-14 passing for 187 yards and 3 touchdowns and added another score on the ground in a 48-8 blowout win.

Former Saint Louis head coach Darnell Arceneaux recalled that game against Roosevelt. "I remember vividly our first drive and we went three and out and then I kinda said I gotta trust these guys, and I looked at Marcus and said we're going to pick the tempo up and I'm going to put a lot on your plate."

"The very first big ball he threw was a seam read," remarked Arceneaux. "And it was a strike down the middle and you could kind of just see it, how calm and cool and collected Marcus was."

For comparison's sake, out first night's number came out to an aggregate 1,437 pageviews, giving the clear edge to Mariota in terms of performance. But it was a start nevertheless.

"That first Roosevelt game I didn't really know much about it (SL)," said Duke Bukoski, a former teammate of Mariota. "But as the season went on I would start searching up what was going on, and to see how everybody was doing."

As the season progressed Mariota quickly established himself amongst Hawaii high school football fans as an elite signal caller, throwing for nearly 2600 yards and 32 touchdowns, in the process leading the Crusaders to its first state title in eight years. In the Division I title game against Waianae, Mariota was machine-like in his effiency, throwing for 230 yards and three touchdowns and running for 43 more on 5 carries.

"It looked effortless, and he made others around him look better," said Arceneaux. "And when you can make a fifth string, sixth string receiver look like a first stringer that's when you know you have the intangibles to be great."

While not nearly as meteoric of a rise, I think it is fair to say that SL also experienced a fairly brisk rise in establishing ourselves during our maiden fall campaign, one that I think was fueled at least in small part to the success enjoyed by the Mariota-led Crusaders. The sub-1,400 pageviews from the start of the year multiplied more than tenfold, to 16,200 on the night of the Saints' title game win over the Seariders.

Another key indicator of the progress we had made as a news source came in the form of our story links and game photos appearing on various mainland-based blogs and the like. Not surprisingly, the lion's share of those articles were focused on the buzz generating around Mariota and his impending arrival on the campus at Eugene.

Four years later, it is totally unsurprising yet still somewhat surreal for me to think that an athlete we've had the privilege of covering, is now poised to take snaps on the biggest stage in all of football as the second player selected in the 2015 NFL draft.

"That's the first time I heard that, so yeah that's special," said Mariota, who was surprised to hear his selection as the highest ever from a Hawaii player. "I'm sure in the future there will be a guy that goes one and I hope that's soon because there's a lot of talent here and it'll be that day soon, so we'll see."

Its not nearly as a grandiose, but still pretty amazing to think how far SL has come as a news source, not only in terms of site visitors and page views, but also in the depth and breadth of our coverage. What started as three former colleagues and a vision, has grown to become one of the premiere sources for Hawaii high school sports, and seeing local players achieve levels of success like Mariota is a big reason why we do what we do.

"It still hasn't sunk in for me that he's going to play in the NFL as the second pick taken, but it just opens so many doors for people in Hawaii to like dream of playing in the NFL, (To know that) its possible." said Bukoski.

Being among the media in attendance covering this milestone in Marcus' decorated career is not something taken for granted, and we appreciate the Mariota family including us amongst those able to attend.

Congratulations Marcus on reaching yet another pinnacle in your already decorated career.

Thanks for letting us be a part of it (again).