Johnson senior Cedric Harris likes to carry the weight of the offense on his shoulders.

The running back doesn’t mind carrying the ball quite a bit, either.

Harris, who ran for over 1,400 yards last season, has already rushed for over 435 yards this season while leading the Knights, 0-10 a year ago, to a 2-0 record.

“It’s pretty nice,” Harris said. “It’s been a while since we’ve been 2-0, and the guys are pretty excited.”

And the star player who has weathered the tough stretches, and who first-year coach Jason Roquemore said is as important for his leadership off the field as his play on it, likes being a big part of this early-season turnaround.

“I like having a lot of weight on my shoulders,” he said, “and being an important part of the team.”

Through two games Harris has already logged 66 carries, including 26 for 258 yards and five touchdowns in a 36-21 win over Oglethorpe County last Friday.

For his efforts, Harris has been named The Times High School Football Player of the Week.

It’s quite a workload on offense, but it’s tempered by the fact that Harris, a starter on offense and defense the last two years, is focusing primarily on the offense in his final season.

Roquemore has him slated as a second-string linebacker, giving Harris an opportunity to catch his breath more than in past seasons. And he’s not the only one; the new coaching staff’s philosophy is to keep players fresh, even if that means keeping talented players off the field at times.

“When we evaluated last year’s film, we saw we had plenty of players playing over 80 snaps, and in high school football that’s hard to do,” Roquemore said. “We feel like right now keeping most of his snaps on the offensive side is best.”

Early on, the move has paid off.

“I feel a little bit of relief, honestly,” Harris said. “Not playing both ways, honestly it has helped my running, helped me stay fresh so I can go hard every down on offense.”

The defense, too, has held its own with the talented Harris no longer starting. The many three-and-outs have even kept Harris from standing on the sidelines for too long.

That’s fine with the 6-foot, 205-pound senior, who is eyeing a couple of individual goals to go along with the team’s success this season.

“I do expect to get this many carries, hopefully,” he said. “Right now I’m just trying to bring my yardage up.”

Behind a big offensive line that Roquemore credited with opening gaping holes for Harris at times over the last two games, the running back is hoping to hit 2,000 yards rushing this season.

That’s not all. He fell one short of the school’s rushing touchdowns in a game record (six) last Friday, and is also shooting to break the single-game rushing yards mark, which he said is around 315 yards.

Each milestone will only help a team that’s looking to start the season 3-0 for the first time since 2003.

The game Friday at North Hall (1-0) should be the Knights’ toughest test yet.

“I think, like West Hall, it will be one of our more important games,” Harris said. “It’s been a while since we’ve beaten them.

“But 2-0 has boosted our confidence; we all think we can do it.”

And if Johnson can defeat Hall County rival North Hall for the first time since 1994, it’s very likely that Harris will have his fingerprints all over it.