The Team That Couldn't Lose Read Online Free PDF Page A

through the mail from
     someone who didn’t sign his name. When the first play had come to him, he didn’t know whether he should use it or not, since
     he didn’t know who had sent it, or whether the play would help the Cayugans. His frank opinion was that since the Cayugans
     lookedso poor in practice and since both he and Mr. Quigley were poor coaches, nothing they did would help them score touchdowns,
     let alone win games.
    Then he discussed the strategy of Play One with Mr. Quigley, and they decided to teach it to the team. That was all they would
     have the team do for the whole week: learn the play until they had it down pat. If they won, fine. They would use it again
     the next week.
    But what happened? A
new
play came to him through the mail! The first play had been a success, so Phil figured that the new one might be, too.
    That was why they had kept using a new play every week. And each one had been working out perfectly.
    “When do you get these plays?” Chip asked curiously.
    “Every Monday,” said Phil. “And I noticethat each time the envelope is stamped twelve P.M . Saturday.”
    “What kind of paper are the plays drawn on?”
    “Looks like ordinary computer paper to me,” answered Phil.
    Chip’s eyes widened. “Ordinary computer paper?”
    “Yup.”
    Chip’s brows wrinkled in thought. “If there were only a way to catch the person when he mails the letter,” he said.
    “Maybe we can watch the mailboxes and the post office,” said Splash. “Catch the person red-handed.”
    “Hardly,” said Phil. “Too many people in town we don’t know.”
    Then how can we find out who the person is? thought Chip. There was no way. None at all.

    The Cayugans played the Stingrays that Saturday afternoon. It looked as if it was another game the Cayugans had no chance
     of winning. Quarterback Jack Stone for the Stingrays called play after play that gained a yard or two, sometimes five or ten.
     Once Jim Randall, their hot fullback, carried the ball for seventy-six yards for a touchdown.
    Yet, when the game was over, the Cayugans were the winners. In the scorebook, the Stingrays had gained three times as many
     yards on runs and passes as the Cayugans had. But in the scoring column, it was the Cayugans who fared better, 18-14.
    And it was the new play, Play Four, that had helped the Cayugans win.
    On Monday, just before practice, Phil and Mr. Quigley were standing at the sidelineslooking at a sheet of paper in Phil’s hand. Phil motioned Chip and Danny over. “I received a new play again today,” he said.
     “And the letter was stamped twelve o’clock Saturday.”

8
    I t was another complicated play.
    “I’m not sure whether we ought to keep learning these new plays,” Phil said to Mr. Quigley undecidedly. “It bothers me to
     teach them and not know who’s sending them.”
    Mr. Quigley shrugged. “Well, we’re winning, aren’t we?” he said, and chuckled.
    “Sure,” said Chip. “And as long as someone sends us the plays and we can learn them, let’s use them.”
    Danny grinned. “That’s the way I’d feel about it too,” he said. “If somebody wants to help us, good for him!”
    Halfway through their practice session, Chip looked over to the sidelines for Jasper McFall. The grumpy old man wasn’t around.
    Suddenly an idea occurred to him. After practice, while Chip and Splash were walking home together, Chip explained what he
     had in mind. “If Mr. McFall remembers those plays, maybe it’s someone who played with him who’s sending them to us. If he
     can remember those plays, he should remember who played with him, shouldn’t he?”
    “He should,” agreed Splash.
    They found Jasper McFall raking up leaves in his backyard.
    “Well, well, look who’s here!” the old man said. His eyes bounced from one boy to the other like Ping-Pong balls. “The Cayugan
     champions. The worst team in the league and winning all the games. I’ve never seen the likes of it in my