Lewis Murray, Jr.—1948-49 Wildcat Football, 1955-59 Wildcat Football Coach

   Lewis Murray, Jr. was captain of the 1949 Dobie Holden-led Wildcats who won the state championship while posting 10 wins and only one defeat.  The '49 team also won the Memeorial Bowl 21-20 over Lamar, Texas, and finished fourth in the nation. 

   The Purvis native, who is also a member of the University of Southern Mississippi Hall of Fame, coached at Poplarville High School before joining Coach Holden as an assistant for the Wildcats.  Murray was a super successful coach for the Bogalusa Lumberjacks before his retirement during the mid-eighties.  He is now (in 1988) principal and head coach at Bowling Green High School in Washington Parish.