The victory was so close to fruition, McCaskey could taste its sweet nectar.

The defeat was so close to reality, Cedar Crest could feel the bitter emptiness.

Fate had other plans.

Leading 22-20 early in the fourth quarter, McCaskey had four cracks at the end zone, a yard away from a score that would've delivered much needed breathing room.

Didn't happen.

Out of timeouts and down 27-22 with 1:39 left the Red Tornado had two shots at the game-winning TD, but lost the football on an errant toss back.

Instead of wearing the goat's horns for a fumble that gave the Tornado life with 3:04 to play, Falcons' quarterback Gary Gristick took two knees — and a shot from blitzing linebacker Jay Morant — from the victory formation.

A victory that proved elusive, once again, for a McCaskey team that fell to 0-5 in Section One of the Lancaster-Lebanon League, 0-8 overall and 0-19 since the second-to-last game of the 2007 season.

Tornado coach David Given made himself unavailable for comment in the wake of the devastating loss.

And unavailable for the crowd of parents who — unhappy that Given left the field ahead of his team at the end of the game — gathered in the parking lot to express their displeasure to him.

They dispersed when game managers called for police assistance.

If only the Falcons' defense might have dispersed in the fourth quarter.

The game began as so many have for McCaskey, with the Tornado taking a halftime lead into the locker room.

McCaskey held a 16-6 advantage on Blaise Glover's 26-yard field goal — set up by Diante Cherry's 42-yard punt return — Markeith William's 20-yard option run and Adrian Westbrook's 1-yard plunge.

Cedar Crest (1-4, 3-5) briefly led 6-3 late in the first quarter after marching 99 yards in 13 plays with Charles Kyeremeh (19-94) going 2 yards for the touch.

On the third play of the second half Westbrook took off on a 60-yard scoring dash.

Gristick wasted little time answering Westbrook's home run, directing an option pitch to Chris Coleman, good for 45 yards to the Tornado 9.

Gristick (10-of-15, 197 yards, 2 TD) hit Nate Horn on a slant on the next play for a 9-yard TD then, after a short McCaskey punt, led the Falcons 45 yards in 5 plays with Dustin McFarland going over from the 4.

McCaskey moved 65 yards in 11 plays, burning 6½ minutes off the clock — and its second timeout of the half — bringing a 2nd-and-goal inside the 1.

Westbrook (17-106) bulled over from there but, timeout — McCaskey's last timeout — was called from the sideline as the play unfolded.

Two sneaks by Westbrook yielded nothing but a procedure penalty and his fourth-down pass to Williams fell incomplete.

Taking over at the 5, Kyeremeh burst 25 yards on an isolation play and, two plays later, gathered in a screen pass from Gristick.

The short gainer turned into the game-winning play when Kyeremeh avoided a pair of tacklers at the 30 and, 80 yards later, stood triumphantly in the end zone.

With Williams pounding out the hard yards, McCaskey moved 37 yards to the Crest 39, where Westbrook threw an interception to Sean Sellers.

Gristick's fumble seemed heaven-sent and four plays later McCaskey was a yard from deliverance once more.

Again the Falcons' defense stuffed Westbrook's sneak. Then Williams watched Westbrook's toss sail high. Watched Jon Heisey cover it. Watched victory slip away.