Parkville's Justin Payne was named the Ravens High School Football Coach of the Week on Thursday after guiding the Knights to their first win over Perry Hall since 2009.
After finishing 3-7 in his first season with the Knights, Payne has them off to a 2-1 start after upsetting their Baltimore County rival, 21-14, Saturday.
Senior cornerback Vernon Miller Jr. picked off a Perry Hall pass with about a minute left to seal the win. It was the fourth turnover caused by the Knights against the Gators' high-tempo offense.
Miller also scored the game-winning touchdown with about nine minutes left on a 25-yard reception from Sid White. The senior quarterback had a hand in all three touchdowns, throwing for two and running for the other.
"Our goal for this game was to possess the ball as long and as often as we could," Payne said in a news release. "The more we had the ball, the less Perry Hall would have it, and we thought that was going to be a key to winning the game for us. The kids executed the game plan well, and hopefully this victory over our rival continues to bring some real excitement about football throughout our school."
This Saturday at 2 p.m., the Knights host another county team on the rise -- Dulaney (2-1). The Lions are 2-0 in the county's Class 4A-3A Division while the Knights are 1-1 with their loss being a 21-18 defeat against No. 9 Milford Mill.
A Ravens Coach of the Week will be selected each week of the regular season and all 10 winners will honored at the Ravens-Eagles game Dec. 18 at M&T Bank Stadium where one coach will be named the Ravens High School Football Coach of the Year. Along with Payne, Randallstown's Ray Wright, Winters Mill's Matt Miller and Centennial's Carlos Dunmoodie have been winners this season.
Each weekly winner will receive $2,000 from the Ravens for his athletics department and an award from coach John Harbaugh.