Atkins Leads L.A. Baptist

Ron Atkins wasted little time in making himself liked by the L.A. Baptist High football team.

Atkins, a senior transfer from Chatsworth, caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Peter Dirksen on the sixth play of L.A. Baptist’s season opener against Boron on Friday night and got the Knights rolling toward a 29-15 nonleague victory at Alemany High.

Atkins finished with five catches for 104 yards and had 80 yards on three returns. He also scored twice, once on a three-yard run, and made a two-point conversion on a bruising run.

Chris Ross, the Knights’ 1,200-yard rusher last year , also impressed with 121 yards in 12 carries. Dirksen connected on nine of 14 passes for 153 yards. He scored twice on one-yard sneaks.

The Knights had trouble on defense in the first quarter, allowing a 15-play, 80-yard scoring drive on Boron’s first possession that pulled the Bobcats to within 7-6.

The Knights, however, held Boron to 49 yards in the second quarter.

Dirksen’s second touchdown put the Knights ahead, 29-8, with 2 minutes 51 seconds remaining. Boron answered with a 49-yard pass play from Robert Kostopoulos to Chad York to pull within 29-15.