John Tyler's cheerleaders weren't about to let a little rain get them down Saturday night.

EAST TEXAS FOOD BANK | PANTRY RAID

John Tyler High School is bringing the trophy back home.

After Robert E. Lee High School snapped their six-year winning streak last fall, JT students doubled down and collected more canned goods to win the bragging rights in the 28th annual Pantry Raid competition.

The winner was honored during halftime at the Lee-JT showdown in the 15th annual Christus Trinity Mother Frances Football Classic on Saturday.

Combined, the students at John Tyler and Robert E. Lee and their feeder elementary and middle schools collected 41,315 pounds of nonperishable food. The food is enough to provide 30,429 meals for East Texans, according to East Texas Food Bank officials.

Every year the schools go head-to-head to see who can collect the most nonperishable food items for the East Texas Food Bank.

Students said the competition is fun, but the real motivation is helping their community.

Both schools also get their feeder elementary and middle schools involved.

The John Tyler Big Blue Marching Band and the school’s cheerleaders will reward their local elementary and middle schools with a pep rally for whichever school collected the most.

The Student Council at Lee took a new approach this year to get students involved. The students hosted a Fortnite

video game tournament, asking students to sponsor their favorite player with donations.

Students spent part of their day organizing the food and loading a semitrailer in the front parking lot of each campus over the past few weeks.

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Sports Editor Phil Hicks contributed to this story.