Merced finally just ran out of time.
The Bears comeback bid fell short when Edison recovered Merced's onside-kick bid with 1 minute, 41 seconds left on the clock.
The Tigers ran out the clock to hold on to a 42-35 win on Friday night at Veterans Stadium.
Merced Sun-Star - Merced High's Jaquari People (5) gets tackled by Edison's Bobby Peele during the first quarter of Friday night's game.
Merced Sun-Star - Merced's DeVonte Mays (4) makes his way past an Edison defender during the first quarter Friday night at Veterans Field.
Merced Sun-Star - Merced football fans go wild after Jaquari People makes a touchdown in the first quarter of a game at Veterans Field against Edison.
It was a remarkable second-half comeback for the Bears (1-2), who trailed 36-7 after a lethargic first half.
Merced had no answer for Edison quarterback Khari Magee.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior put on a show early on with his speed and his ability to extend plays.
Magee completed 12 of 23 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran 10 times for 83 yards and another score.
The Bears defense came out slow in the first half. Merced watched Edison march up and down the field in its first two possesssions without offering much resistance.
Magee's 20-yard touchdown capped the Tigers 52-yard drive on their opening possession.
The Tigers (2-1) then took advantage of a short field on their next possession and marched 48 yards for another score with Deondre Howard running in a 1-yard touchdown.
Garrett Kelly added a two-point conversion to extend the lead to 15-0 with 2:29 left in the first quarter.
Merced's offense was out of sync early on.
Quarterback Eli Gutierrez overthrew receiver David Mariano on a sure touchdown on the Bears second play of the game.
Merced's only offense in the first two quarters was Jaquari People's 90-yard kickoff return for a score that cut the lead to 15-7.
The Tigers outscored Merced 21-0 in the second quarter to open up a 36-7 lead.
The Bears didn't go away.
Gutierrez caught fire.
He broke free for a 43-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 36-14.
Magee answered as he broke free from two Merced defenders in the backfield and then spotted a wide open Howard down field for a 78-yard touchdown pass that extended the lead to 42-14.
Gutierrez only completed one of his first 10 passes for 12 yards.
He completed 10 of his final 13 passes for 150 yards.
The Merced defense also started making some stops and came away with two second-half interceptions.
Errol Dennis scored on a 3-yard run to cut the Tigers' lead to 42-21.
Gutierrez then found People in the fourth quarter for a 24-yard touchdown pass.
Suddenly the lead was down to 42-28 with 4:56 remaining.
Gutierrez again found People for a 42-yard touchdown pass that cut the lead to 42-35 with 1:41 left on the clock.
People finished with 65 yards receiving and 53 yards rushing.
Merced kicker Robert Stowe tried to pooch an onside kick over the Edison first wave of players, but the Tigers' Terell Green pounced on the ball to preserve the win.
With only one timeout Merced was unable to stop the clock.
The Bears will travel to McNair next week.
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