It’s no secret that Mililani will have a distinctly different look in the personnel department this season.

That’s because three superstars — running back Vavae Malepeai, quarterback McKenzie Milton and wide receiver Kalakaua Timoteo — graduated and will play in college.

But 2015, when the Trojans made it as far as the state semifinals, is a distant memory at best to head coach Rod York.

“What guys?” York said, when asked about the losses to graduation. “Our team philosophy is one team, one family, so whenever a team does good, the media will hype up certain players, the playmakers. For us, it’s about this 2016 team and we definitely have a lot of work to do. We’ve had three scrimmages and still have a lot of things to clean up.”

By the time the Trojans played Kamehameha in a Saturday scrimmage, things looked to be headed in the right direction. Sophomore quarterback Dillon Gabriel looked sharp, as did receivers Roman Tovi and Andrew Valesderes and running back Jalen Olomua. For large chunks of that scrimmage, it was the same-old precision-like Mililani, which is ranked No. 5 in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s preseason poll.

The defense was equally impressive. Not big, but aggressive with plenty of emotion. Safety Kainalu Wong and cornerback Dustin Gapusan are among the defensive leaders, according to York.

“I don’t really like to talk about players because we don’t know (who’s going to be the players who step up),” York said. “Guys who we thought were going to be the guys because of pass league, practices in the offseason and the weight room, they didn’t show up when we scrimmaged Kahuku (on Friday). Guys that we didn’t think would show up showed up.”

Wong and Gapusan will also play slotback, York said, because the Trojans are somewhat shorthanded on offense due to injuries. Guard Noah Williams is among the returnees anchoring the offensive line.

“I don’t mind mentioning Gapusan and Wong,” York said. “They’re going both ways, toughing it out and producing. They’re showing up and willing to be team guys by playing both ways.”

Opponents would be wise to keep a cautious eye on Olomua, who transferred from Kahuku two seasons ago. He bulled his way for large gains against Kamehameha.

“We’re young as everyone knows, but we just gotta keep grinding,” Gabriel said. “That’s why we had three scrimmages in a row. We’ll see who are the studs. Coach has a method to his madness, so we gotta stick with it and believe in what he does. He’s done it; he’s won a state championship with his stuff, so as long as we believe in it, we should be good.”

Gabriel, who hurt his shoulder late last season, has recovered fully.

“I feel a lot stronger, faster and smarter and have been watching a lot of film,” said Gabriel, who added that Tovi, Valesderes, Noah Domagsac and Cy Kuboyama are among his common targets.

The attitude is positive and strong, according to Gapusan and Wong.

“I think we look good this year,” Gapusan said. “We’re obviously missing Vae, ‘Kenzie and Kala, but we’ve got new weapons coming up and we just gotta step it up this year.”

Added Wong: “Everybody comes out and works hard, and in the locker room, everybody treats each other good. Coach says next guy up and everybody plays hard. I think we’ll be good this year.”

Playing Waipahu, Kahuku and Kamehameha three days in a row was a big test for the Trojans. It won’t be long before they’ll get another big one. Mililani faces state Division I runner-up Saint Louis on Saturday at home in a nonleague game.

“The tackling was horrendous in the first two scrimmages,” York said. “Waipahu exposed us of a lot of weaknesses. We corrected them and then we went to Kahuku on purpose, wanted to get our weaknesses exposed, and whoa. I didn’t realize there were that many. It was good and it was tough for us because they come right at you, which is what we wanted. They probably ran about three plays to the right and three plays to the left. One play-action play. They pounded it on us. We cannot simulate that with bags, sleds or film. The only way you can simulate that is go against them. So it was good for us.

“It’s a tough scrimmage season, then we’ve got Saint Louis next week. We did that on purpose. Find out the attitude, find out who the guys are. Whoever is left standing, that’s who our guys are.”