The senior's funeral was held Thursday, with a video stream at the high school.
Evan MurrayStudents stood outside the stadium gates at Warren Hills Regional High School on Thursday, observing the memorials left this week.
Many of the chalk messages on concrete had faded in the rain. The candles had long since gone out, the melted wax hardened on the ground.
But the memory of Evan Murray burned bright.
Murray, the high school's starting quarterback, died after being hurt in a varsity football game Friday night at the Blue Streaks' home field, having suffered internal bleeding from a lacerated spleen. He was 17.
Murray's funeral was held Thursday at Faith Discovery Church in Washington Township, Warren County. The church was filled to capacity, and hundreds more gathered to see a live video feed of the service at the high school, where classes were canceled for the day. The church posted the video online.
The funeral service included amusing anecdotes by family and coaches to try to lighten the mood of what has been a somber week, said junior Frankie Bailey.
WATCH: Evan Murray's funeral service online
After the funeral, mourners filed out of the church and surrounded the hearse as young pallbearers carried the casket. A single dove was released and landed on the church roof, above the crowd.
At the high school about a mile away, many of the mourners sported the school's blue and white colors.
Afterward, a small group of students gathered at Murray's parking space, which was adorned with flowers and messages all week. Some went across the street to the larger memorial outside the field.
Murray was an honor student and standout athlete who played football, baseball and basketball, and by all accounts was admired and respected by peers. The loss has weighed heavily on the school, keeping the halls unusually silent this week, Bailey said.
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The hashtag #18strong, a reference to Murray's number, was included in numerous messages at the memorial.
Also there, a 4-year-old's drawing of a football field, complete with No. 18 jersey; a football signed by the Morris Catholic football team; and a copy of the Walt Whitman poem "O Captain! My Captain!"
"Where we go from here," Bailey said, paraphrasing a teacher's advice, "is to return to some sense of normalcy. But it won't be normal. It's a different normal. But we'll get there."
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.