Coming in to the 2011 soccer season, Ariel Mejia knew the fate of the Johnson Knights depended largely on him stepping up.

A senior, this would be Mejia's fourth year as a starting striker. He was team captain. And most importantly, he had to bridge the gap created by 12 players graduating from the previous season's team and the talented group of underclassmen who would be taking their spots.

"I thought, ‘Wow,'' Mejia said. "We're going to need to step it up a lot. That was an issue for me, because I wasn't sure what to do. I'd never played with the lower classmen and I didn't really see what we had until the first game.

"I was surprised at how good we were."

Mejia was a big reason why. On the season, he score 20 goals to go with four assists, leading the Knights to the Area 8-AAA title and the second round of the state playoffs.

For his efforts, Mejia is The Times Boys Player of the Year.

Knights coach Brian Shirley said he was counting on Mejia to be a leader on the team. Mejia delivered.

"He had by far the best season of his high school career, no doubt," Shirley said. "When we needed him, he put the team on his back. He had a lot of multiple goal games, a couple of hat tricks, and what turned out to be the game-winning goal against Gainesville for the 8-AAA title.

"He came through because he's a hard worker who hustles like no one we've ever had here in the past. What he did was unbelievable."

Mejia was forced to shoulder even more of a load than initially expected when senior co-captain Juan Morfin broke his foot in the seventh game of the season. Morfin was a key cog in the offense, scoring 13 goals in just seven games played.

"We had to move some players around and needed help from non-starters," Mejia said. "I felt a lot more responsibility because we needed someone to fill a big spot.

"We got used to it."

Indeed they did. The Knights went on to win 6 of their final 9 regular season games, including a 2-1 win over Gainesville in a match that determined the Area 8-AAA champion. The win was especially sweet for Mejia, who scored the deciding goal, because he used to attend school in the Gainesville district.

"Beating Gainesville was one of the main goals for both me and the team,"Mejia said. "They'd won the region title the last three years, and we've been so close. I had a feeling we were going to beat them this year, I don't know why.

"I went to middle school there all three years and was the captain in eighth grade. When I moved, they called me a traitor. But I had to move. I was living in the wrong area. Coming back to score the winning goal on them was awesome. That was the biggest goal for me."

The 8-AAA title earned the Knights a No. 1 seed in the playoffs. In the opening round, they hosted and dominated Troup County 10-0, advancing to the second round and besting the previous year, when they were eliminated in the first round.

"We just came out ready to play," Mejia said.

The Knights would lose to eventual state champions Woodward Academy the next round.

Mejia will continue playing soccer in a summer league for a travel team named the Lanier Sharks. He said he's looking for the right college fit, and may continue his soccer career at that level.

Shirley said Mejia has left behind a solid legacy.

"He was a leader on the team and in school," Shirley said of Mejia, who was also a member on the student council.

"That's what's most important. He's a model kid and the kind you'd want on your team. He encompasses the idea of a student-athlete."