Championship football Coach Bill Raphael was a legendary gridiron mentor who spent his entire career at St. Joseph in Jackson. Bill hailed from Natchez and was a multi-sport athlete at Natchez Cathedral High. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and, after graduation, he participated in track, football, basketball, and boxing at Southwestern Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana. Bill was the intramural heavyweight boxing champion at the school and earned his degree in 1949. Coach Raphael arrived at St. Joseph in 1950 and developed a solid football program. Competing in the tough Little Dixie Conference, Bill led his Bruins to an overall record of 222 wins, 163 losses, and 9 ties. He coached two undefeated teams in 1956 and in 1972, a squad that upset the highly favored Murrah Mustangs 9 to 6 in the Capitol Bowl in Jackson. After leaving St. Joseph in 1989, Coach Raphael coached at Millsaps College and was an adjunct professor of math at Belhaven University. Bill received numerous coaching awards during his career including accolades from the Gerald Ford Foundation and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association. He was an assistant coach in 1969 and head coach in 1970 in the Bernard Blackwell All-Star football classic. Coach Raphael passed away on August 23, 2013.