PHILADELPHIA >> It’s nearly 4,750 miles from Honolulu to Orlando, where Dillon Gabriel is already making his presence felt as starting quarterback for the University of Central Florida.

But even from that distance the connections home remain powerful for the kid from Mililani.

“I just want to be the best I can to put up for the 808,” Gabriel said Saturday night, after throwing for 218 yards and three touchdowns in UCF’s 63-21 rout of host Temple. “I put a lot of pride in it.

“Hawaii raised me up and I just love that place to death. Who knows when I’ll get back home? I just know when I do, I’ll be enjoying it and it’ll be good to see my family.”

In a way, though, the 6-foot, 186-pound Gabriel doesn’t have to look that far to find “family.” In fact, he calls McKenzie Milton, the Knights’ injured quarterback from his own backyard, his “big brother.” Plus, there’s fellow freshman and Kamehameha alum Lokahi Pauole, an offensive tackle.

“I think having that sense of family inside the facility really just caught my eye,” Gabriel said of the decision to attend UCF, following Milton’s lead. “Having those guys really makes up for being so far away from home. I don’t second guess my decision for a second. I love it here.”

The feeling is quickly becoming mutual from his coach and teammates who’ve seen Gabriel make a seamless transition from high school to college for the 6-2 Knights. Through eight games, seven of them starts, he’s thrown for 2,218 yards and 20 touchdowns with just five interceptions.

“That transition from high school to college football is definitely a big one,” said defensive back Aaron Robinson. “With the outside noise, the crowd, the expectations, he’s doing a great job. We definitely look up to him.”

Not to mention, trust him.

“He’s a really good player,” said UCF second-year coach Josh Heupel. “I think the quarterback plays well when the guys around him are playing at a high level too, especially a young quarterback.

“There’s a lot of decision-making and he’s handled it well. He’s gonna continue to grow. We’re gonna continue to evolve. As you’re able to put him in more situations where you trust him, he’ll be able to make the right decisions and not hurt the football team.

“But you can tell by what you’re doing we do have a lot of trust in him.”

A year ago at this time Gabriel was making waves and breaking records for Mililani, where he threw for a state career record 9,948 yards and 105 touchdowns. He passed for 3,754 yards and 38 scores in 2018 alone, earning him the Star-Advertiser’s All-State Offensive Player of the Year award.

It also made him a hot recruiting commodity on the mainland, especially at UCF, where Milton was in the midst of a spectacular career prior to suffering a gruesome leg injury last season. It was all too reminiscent of what had happened at Mililani years ago.

“My freshman year he was a senior and I kind of sat behind him,” recalled Gabriel, whose father, Garrett, is a local legend from his days playing for the Rainbows in the late 1980s. “He ended up getting hurt and I got called up and filled in for him.

“Just learning from him then and now we’ve gotten super close. I wouldn’t say he was the deciding factor having me come, but having him here is a plus. Whenever you go somewhere having that sense of family is huge. Just the big brother he is for me, I really can’t put into words.”

So does “big brother” have any advice? “He tells me ‘Just stay true to who you are,’ ” replied Gabriel, already looking ahead to Saturday’s game against Houston. “He’s been through some ups and downs.

“Him learning from that has helped me not make the same mistake. It’s a great thing having that big brother for me.”

Milton, who’s remained a part of the team even though he’s not playing this season, clearly has taught Gabriel well. Yet Gabriel says getting an early jump on things by arriving on campus during the spring has paid huge dividends.

“I just think it was just the preparation before this season coming in early,” he explained about his instant success. “I think any time you work so hard you want it to pay off.

“At the same time there’s games ahead and a lot of things I could fix. Just the little things. Little things add up to huge things. From my standpoint I can only get better and learn from it.”

One thing he’s already learned is to appreciate his heritage. While he may not know Shane Victorino, Marcus Mariota, Kolten Wong or Hawaii World Series hero Kurt Suzuki, he knows what an inspiration they’ve been.

“They opened the doors for kids like me,” he said. “For kids coming up, giving them that sense of hope. Now you have a chance to see Hawaii players playing everywhere — all around the country.”

Add Dillon Gabriel to the list. From 4,750 miles away he’s already doing the 808 proud.