Bridgeport High Athletics Hall of Fame Welcomes to Inaugural Class 1955 State Championship Football Team
By Michael Minnich on September 05, 2026
There are plenty of trophies in the Bridgeport High School cafeteria.
But there's only one first state championship.
The first announced member of the first class of the Harry Green Bridgeport High Athletics Hall of Fame is the 1955 football team, which brought home the Class AA trophy.
John Murphy's team went 9-1, a school record for wins at the time and a number that wasn't beaten until the 10-0 1962 team.
As was true of most Bridgeport teams to follow, this was a team that hung its hat on defense, only allowing double-digit points twice, to University in a 37-14 win in Week 4 and to Webster Springs in a dominant 45-13 state championship victory at West Virginia Wesleyan's Cebe Ross Field on November 24.
Bridgeport shut out Shinnston, 7-0, on September 8 and Grafton, 13-0, on September 15 to open the season and also blanked Notre Dame (29-0 on October 8) and Philippi (34-0 on October 28).
The Tribe also defeated Buckhannon-Upshur, 27-7, on October 15; Roosevelt Wilson, 14-7, on October 21; and Kingwood, 42-6, on November 4.
Even the loss was a low-scoring affair, a 7-0 defeat at the hands of Victory on September 23.
The class will be announced one member at a time and announcements will continue over the next three weeks.
The inductees were selected via voting by a committee comprised of members of the Bridgeport High community.
The complete class will be recognized during the Homecoming football game against Robert C. Byrd on Friday, September 25.
Please note that stories on the honorees are running in random order.
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