MART, Texas — Local business owners in the town of Mart cheered on their Panther football team in the state title game on their homegrounds.
- Mart Panthers played against Albany in the 2A-Division II football state championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
- For those that did not go to the game, there was the option of watching it at local restaurants with fellow members of the community.
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Empty streets, empty tables — but with all the Panther flags waving, what was the reason for this town being so empty?
“Everybody is at AT&T Stadium today,” said John Ramirez, co-owner of Texas Avenue Café.
The Mart Panthers, traveling 117 miles north to Arlington, taking on the Albany Lions once again for the 2A-Division II state title.
Majority of this town didn't want to miss the game, but some business owners decided to cheer the team on from afar.
“I expected it to be slow — I wish I could’ve been there at the stadium, but I wanted to be available to anybody who couldn’t afford to make the drive to Dallas, Arlington and watch the game with us and have some lunch," Ramirez said.
A couple of doors down from Texas Avenue Café, Trolley’s had the same idea.
“I had to run the bar so other people that can’t make it to the game come in and we can feed them, serve them and they can watch the game,” said Manager and Bartender at The Trolley LLC, Cierra Brown.
Brown served a gentleman whose son played on the championship team five years ago.
"My boy played in ’17 and ’18," Danny Greene said.
"He played wide receiver — he’s got two rings. His name is Demetreous Greene."
Across the street at Victorian’s Barbecue, they were hopeful that business would pick up with hungry Panthers after the game.
“I’m assuming that once that’s over, and people creep back into town, we’ll stay open a little bit later today and get some other people that are over there right now to come back,” said Victorian's Barbecue owner, Joey Victorian.
Despite the overall outcome of the game, the team remains in the record books with the third most state titles in Texas history.
