MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — True freshman Payton Brown scored three touchdowns, redshirt freshman quarterback Carter Hensley led a second-half rally and Southeast Missouri State defeated North Alabama 37-15 on Saturday night in the FCS Kickoff Game.

Brown, who finished with 97 yards, scored on a 1-yard run late in the second quarter and a 25-yard run late in the third. His 1-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter was set up by a 47-yard quarterback keeper by Hensley.

In his first game action since high school, Hensley subbed in for injured starter Paxton DeLaurent and completed 10 of 14 passes for 100 yards. His 1-yard touchdown run gave the Redhawks a 34-15 lead with about 5 minutes remaining in the game.

North Alabama had 135 yards rushing in the first half while SE Missouri passed for 149 yards. The Lions had short touchdown runs by Jayvian Allen and Ari Patu. A two-point conversion after Allen’s touchdown helped produce a 15-13 halftime lead.

DeLaurent completed 14 of 17 passes for 96 yards but left the game in the second quarter with a shoulder injury.

With DeLaurent sidelined, the Redhawks found more balance in their offense and their defense held North Alabama without a point in the second half. The Redhawks finished with 196 yards passing and 176 yards rushing.

North Alabama’s only sustained drive of the second half ended in a turnover on downs late in the third quarter.

Patu completed 12 of 24 passes for 104 yards and was intercepted twice. Allen had 100 yards rushing and the Lions finished with 216 yards on the ground.

It was the seventh time the FCS Kickoff was held at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery.

___ Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here ___ AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

The Associated Press

Wildlife officials in Missouri said a bald eagle has been rehabilitated after it was having trouble flying. 

The Missouri Department of Conservation captured the bird near Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, which is in the southwest corner of the state about 50 miles from Branson. 

The bird was found unable to fly and animal experts initially thought it was injured. 

In an open field a bald eagle sits, its head turned to look at the camera. A large dog carrier with its door open is to the left of the frame. Image: Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield

Advertisement

But upon further examination, the bird was found to be healthy overall but currently engorged from its latest meal – “in other words, too fat to fly,” Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield shared on social media. 

‘Bizarre-looking’ creature getting a helping hand from North Carolina conservationists

In the wild, a bald eagle’s diet is “opportunistic and varied,” according to the National Park Service, but most feed mainly on fish. Some may also sometimes feed on smaller mammals or birds. 

X-rays of the captured bald eagle showed the outline of a small paw inside the bird’s stomach, which is believed to be a raccoon’s paw. 

A check-up also found the bird’s stomach to be distended. 

Experts believe the bird feasted on raccoon roadkill. 

In an open field a bald eagle flies towards the tree line. You can see its yellow feet peaking out from behind its splayed tail feathers. Image: Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield

After some rehabilitation, the eagle was released near where it was found in compliance with federal and state laws. 

The college football season kicks off in Dublin on Saturday as Florida State takes on Georgia Tech. ESPN’s College GameDay made the trek across the pond to celebrate the season starting in a unique environment. The premiere college pregame television show welcomes legendary coach Nick Saban to the set this season to provide expertise and analysis in the wake of his retirement and it didn’t take long before he made headlines.

The panel opened the segment talking about the Alabama Crimson Tide and Kalen DeBoer’s task to replace the seven-time national championship winning coach, but Saban was quick to steer the conversation into a discussion on the imbalance of the SEC’s schedule.

“If you look at everybody’s schedule Missouri has the easiest path to get in the championship game. Georgia has one of the toughest paths to get in the championship game. They’ve got to go to Ole Miss, they’ve got to go to Texas, they’ve got to go to Alabama,” said Saban. “So it’s not all equal in the way these schedules are kind of set up as hard as people tried to make them that way, which is difficult with all the change. So, that’s going to have something to say about who gets in the championship game. And then is it going to be an advantage to get into the SEC Championship game or a disadvantage? We talked about that before too. I see six or seven teams that have a chance to win this, but somebody has to prove they can beat Georgia.”

Easy in the SEC is subjective. Missouri has road trips to Texas A&M and Alabama and welcomes rival Oklahoma into Faurot Field, but the remaining five games are all against teams that struggled last season.