Ask any West Texan and they'll tell you that the Permian Basin is known for two things,

oil and football. No high school team in the country is more famous than Odessa's Permian Panthers.

The Panthers 1988 season was chronopled in one of the best selling sports books of all time,

Friday Night Lights, which inspired a Hollywood film and a critically acclaimed TV series.

To this day, a Permian game at Ratlev Stadium remains a major event. Covided season tickets

are passed down from one generation to the next like Sacred Family Air Looms. The stands are

filled to capacity with over 19,000 fans. The home side is a sea of black and white and silver.

There's electricity in the air.

And I'm now using gentlemen. It's the one word in Texas that says it all. Say it with me.

That's the scene one Friday night this fall when the Panthers square off against South Lake

Carroll, a powerhouse team from a wealthy Dallas suburb. The pom-poms of Mojo cheerleaders shimmer

under the lights. In the stands, chance of Mojo echoing the night air. The Panthers are wearing

their now famous black and white jerseys. On the sidelines, right there among them is Elizabeth

Fought, affectionately known as the Mojo Queen. Mrs. Fought has been a die hard Permian fan for seven decades.

I came here when I was 11 and now I'm old. I'm 84 so that's a long time.

To love Permian. Mrs. Fought used to be the school's registrar and she still substitutes at the high

school teaching a variety of subjects. Next to the players, Mrs. Fought looks tiny. She's no taller than

five five, but she's treated with the kind of towering respect typically reserved for royalty.

Mrs. Fought travels to each game as a sponsor with no real designated role other than offering

the team moral support. When the Panthers reach the playoffs, it's Mrs. Fought who soars the

players last names onto their jerseys. Cheering right alongside her is Alan Jones, a long time

teacher at Permian High and a living encyclopedia of all things Mojo. Now if you're not from West Texas,

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