Momentum played a cruel trick on the Ridgeland Panthers on Friday night, and it put a once-promising football season on the brink of going south.

The Panthers failed to capitalize late in the first half after building a 13-point lead over Class A private school Darlington Academy. The quick momentum swing stayed with the visiting Tigers (2-1) throughout the second half as they rallied for a 16-13 win.

“That was just huge,” Ridgeland coach Mark Mariakis said of the missed opportunity to go up three scores. “I don’t know if somebody missed a block, but we get hit and throw an interception inside the 5. We lost momentum right there, and in the second half they just whipped our tails.”

Ridgeland, 1-2 in the nonregion portion of its schedule, used its superior speed and athleticism to take the early lead. After Duwan Harrison blocked a Darlington field-goal attempt late in the first half, backup fullback Darius Walton, playing for the suspended Terryl Freeman, broke free for 62 yards to the Tigers’ 3. Two plays later he bowled in from the 2 for a 7-0 lead.

Moments later, on Ridgeland’s first play of the second quarter after forcing a Darlington punt, Carlan Bowman — returning to action for the first time in two games — connected with cousin Mike Bowman on a 64-yard touchdown play. The 6-foot-5 star receiver went high to rip the ball away from a defender at the Darlington 40 and raced to the end zone.

With its offense now rolling after two poor performances to start the season, Ridgeland moved later in the half from its own 37 to the Darlington 11, thanks mostly to a 35-yard Devin Bowman run. However, with less than a minute to play before the half, Carlan Bowman was hit on third down, and his pass floated right to Darlington’s Dylan Baker for the game-changing pickoff.

“Everything went our way after that stop,” Darlington junior quarterback Nash Nance said. “If we don’t get that stop, there’s no telling how we were going to react in the second half. We just went back to the basics, nothing fancy, but it worked.”

Nance, who is quickly becoming a top college prospect, was held in check by the speedy Panthers in the first half. With the passing game stalled, Darlington coach Tommy Atha decided to go right at the Panthers with great results. A rushing attack that managed just 32 yards on 15 carries in the first half awoke, producing 139 yards on 22 rushes in the second half.

The Tigers wasted no time getting back in the game, needing just four plays to go 65 yards after the second-half kickoff. A 20-yard Nance-to-Collie Powers pass opened the drive, which ended with consecutive runs of 32 and 13 yards by Will Orr as the Tigers moved within six points. Orr finished with 101 yards on 17 carries.

After a Ridgeland three-and-out, a Darlington drive stalled at the Panthers’ 36, but a punt downed at the 4 led to a safety when Carlan Bowman was pressured in the end zone, tried to give the ball off and Devin Bowman was tackled for the safety. For the quarter, Ridgeland ran six plays and produced a net loss of 1 yard.

The winning drive began at the Darlington 43 with 8:35 to play and featured 10 plays, all runs. Whether it was Orr, Tyler Garrett or Powers carrying the ball, the Darlington offensive line produced nice running lanes. The Panthers got tough once the Tigers reached the 11, but on fourth-and-1 from the 2, Powers broke off a run intended for right tackle, bounced outside and stiff-armed his way into the end zone with four minutes to play.

The Panthers reached the Darlington 47 on a Carlan Bowman 24-yard scramble, but any comeback hopes ended when he was sacked and stripped by Powers, with the Tigers recovering to end the threat.

“They didn’t do anything differently in the second half,” Mariakis said. “They just got after us, and we didn’t respond. We’ve got a long way to go and two weeks to get there before we open region play.”

Walton led Ridgeland rushers with 83 yards on 11 carries. Mike Bowman had just the one catch for 64 yards.

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