A high school football player in Alabama died Saturday after suffering a brain injury in his team’s home opener Friday night. 

Morgan Academy junior quarterback Caden Tellier received an injury to the head during the third quarter of his team’s 30-22 win against Southern Academy in Selma, Alabama. He was airlifted by helicopter to University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital. 

Morgan Academy headmaster Bryan Oliver told Fox News Digital Tellier died from his injuries Saturday evening. 

“It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that Caden Tellier has gone to be with his Lord and Savior. Caden loved the Lord with all his heart and was a shining light every day he graced the halls of Morgan Academy. He was a student, a friend, an athlete and, most important, a Christ follower,” Oliver said. 

“There are no words to describe how we feel as a school community and family. We will come together and support Jamie, Arsella and Lyla with our whole hearts. We offer our deepest sympathy to the Telliers’ extended family as well. I want to thank all the schools and individuals that have reached out during this difficult time. Caden will never be forgotten for who he was and what he means to Morgan Academy.”

Earlier Saturday, there was social media confusion about Tellier’s health when a statement from Alabama Independent School Association Executive Director Michael McLendon was posted on the association’s Facebook page. The initial statement, which went up before noon ET, indicated the school had been dealt a “tragic loss” regarding Tellier. 

However, that post was deleted and replaced with a new statement that was posted around 1:20 p.m. ET that clarified Tellier had suffered a “tragic injury” and was in critical condition at the time. However, he died later that day. 

McLendon added the school is “suspending” all school activities in the coming week.

“As a small school, Morgan Academy feels this tragedy even more deeply, and the Alabama Independent School Association is here to offer any support and resources to support them as they grieve,” he said. 

Tellier played both football and baseball for Morgan Academy. During his first year as the varsity starter as a sophomore in 2023, he threw for 1,228 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions in eight games. In baseball last spring, he hit .311 with two home runs and 10 RBIs.

Tellier’s death comes just nine days after a fellow Alabama high school football player, 14-year-old New Brockton High School freshman Semaj Wilkins, died Aug. 15 after collapsing during a practice. 

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A Texas man faces federal charges after he allegedly kidnapped a rideshare driver at gunpoint and forced the driver to take them to South Florida, according to authorities.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a press release that 23-year-old Miguel Alejandro Pastran Hernandez has been charged in a Miami federal court on kidnapping, carjacking and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime.

The criminal complaint alleges that a rideshare driver was working in Arlington, Texas, at about 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 16 when Pastran Hernandez ordered a ride and was picked up.

The suspect reportedly ordered a ride to a gas station that was closed, and when the two arrived, Pastran Hernandez allegedly pulled out a gun and loaded a round into the chamber.

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Pastran Hernandez then reportedly threatened to tie up and place the driver in the back of the vehicle, but instead demanded the driver take him to South Florida, more than 1,000 miles away.

The attorney’s office said when the driver arrived in Florida, Pastran Hernandez spoke about his plan to kidnap another victim for ransom.

On Aug. 19, the suspect also made the driver go to a store in Hialeah, Florida to purchase supplies for the second kidnapping, but instead of following through with the passenger’s demands, the driver fled.

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Police arrested a Texas man after he allegedly forced a rideshare driver to take him from Texas to South Florida. (iStock)

Police later arrested Pastran Hernandez and allegedly found him in possession of a bag containing a loaded gun.

Pastran Hernandez appeared in Miami federal court on Tuesday and was ordered to remain detained. He has a pre-trial detention hearing scheduled for Monday, followed by an arraignment hearing on Sept. 3.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the rideshare company for verification that the incident occurred with one of its drivers, and for further comment.

As a Kentucky teacher counts the new students who will be entering his classroom this fall, he’s also counting his blessings, which includes the thriving family of six that became his when he adopted a student and his siblings.

“Our lives are complete,” Justin Padgett of Danville, Kentucky, told Fox News Digital. 

“We have left it all up to God to put us where we need to be at the right time. I feel fulfilled.”

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The journey began during the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2021. 

Padgett, who was teaching fifth grade at Highland Elementary School in Lincoln County, Kentucky, was finally able to teach his students in person during the final nine weeks of school.

One of his students, Jayden, had fallen behind on some of his schoolwork — as many kids did during COVID.

“I was helping tutor him, one-on-one with reading and social studies,” Padgett said. 

“We were just trying to help support his academics. That’s when he called me over to his computer one day and just said, ‘I have to be adopted.’”

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The boy had typed the same words on his computer — so Padgett pulled him into the hall to talk. 

The fifth grader said that his current foster parents couldn’t adopt him — and his three siblings — and that his birth family had lost their rights. 

The Padgett family gets dressed up for Halloween in Waynesburg, Kentucky. (Kasey Padgett)

So he and his siblings had to be adopted, he said — and he hoped it could be done by his teacher.

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“He was nice to me, and he always helps me,” Jayden himself told Fox News Digital. 

“He was a really loving person, so I just wanted him to love me and my family.”

Padgett called Kayden’s foster mom — then went home to speak with his wife, Kasey.

“We love telling our story. It’s a blessing to us to be able to share and to see the response that people have toward us.”

— Justin Padgett

“I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got a kiddo in my class that needs to be adopted, and he’s got three siblings,” Padgett said. 

“I asked her, ‘What are your thoughts about that? How would you feel about that?’”

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The couple, who married in 2018, had been hoping for a child of their own.

But “that just wasn’t in the cards for us,” Kasey Padgett said. 

She desperately wanted to be a mom, but the doctors told her to give it time.

The Padgett family is pictured during a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. (Kasey Padgett)

“I really started praying about it,” Kasey Padgett said.

“I thought, ‘There’s got to be a way,’” she added. “I have a couple of friends and family members who are foster parents, and they kept encouraging us and telling us we would be great foster parents.”

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The couple started classes to prepare them for fostering a child. 

They were near the end of their training and waiting for a home study when Jayden made his plea.

“I really started praying about it.”

— Kasey Padgett

“That really expedited [things],” Justin Padgett said.

In April 2021, they began the process. 

Keeping the 4 siblings together

“The kids were part of a program called Wendy’s Wonderful Kids,” Justin Padgett said of The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, a national nonprofit dedicated to finding families for the 108,000-plus children waiting to be adopted from foster care in the U.S.

The foundation played a big role in keeping the four siblings together.

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“We started making connections with their social worker and she kind of vetted us to make sure we knew what we were signing up for. And then we started [the] visits.”

The Padgetts started by taking the kids — Jayden, Hailey, Alexis and Jase — to church, where they served as youth leaders. 

“We started picking them up in the church van,” Justin Padgett said, “and they started going to church with us.” 

The Padgett family has a lot of travel firsts they’re hoping to cross off their bucket list. Recently, they visited Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. (Kasey Padgett)

The Padgetts did not share with the kids that they might be adopted.

“Life can happen, and, you know, we could back out or something could change in the court system,” said Justin Padgett. “They ended up finding out, but we were already having weekend visits at that point and getting their rooms ready.”

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At the end of July 2021, the kids moved in with their new foster family. 

“I really liked it because we didn’t have to get split up and be with someone else,” Alexis, 12, told Fox News Digital.

The Padgetts lived in a small farmhouse when it was just the two of them. So they moved into a three-bedroom house — which they quickly outgrew. 

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The family has since moved to Danville, where Justin Padgett now works for the Kentucky School for the Deaf. 

The family of six stopped at the Gettysburg National Military Park while visiting Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. (Kasey Padgett)

The adoption became official on March 3, 2022.

“We’re very religious, so we’ve seen them spiritually grow, which has been amazing for us. They’ve grown so much,” said Justin Padgett.

The parents said they hope people will think of teenage kids — not just little ones — when considering adoption. 

“At that age, they’ve been through so much trauma — being removed from their home, going through foster care — that they really need special love and attention,” Kasey Padgett said. 

“It’s not all sunshine or rainbows, but we persevere through the hard times and we work together.”

— Justin Padgett

“And they are going to need resources for mental health, as well as guidance and assistance getting into college or trade school or wherever they go in life,” she added.

Kasey Padgett said she and her husband are considering trying to have a child naturally, or adopting another child.

“The doors are open for whatever God has for us,” she said.

Justin Padgett and his wife quickly became a family of six. They said they hope their story encourages someone else to consider fostering or adoption. (Kasey Padgett)

The Padgetts said they hope their story encourages someone else to consider fostering or adoption — even a teacher.

“It’s a calling. You are in place of the parent when [the kids are] at school. You’re in charge of keeping them safe, and there are those bonds and connections that form,” said Justin Padgett. 

“It’s very easy for a teacher to segue into being in charge of a kid at school and then possibly being able to take them into foster care or adoption.”