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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Angels overcome
injury to Richards,
beat Mariners 9-3
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Astoria sophomore Jordan Poyer, right, on his way to scoring his first high school touchdown, Sept. 1, 2006 vs. Molalla. The Indians
will join the league for football this year.
Cowapa League welcomes Molalla
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
T
UP NEXT: FISHERMEN
he Cowapa League is trading one “Indi-
ans” team for another this coming foot-
ball season.
While the Scappoose Indians have made
the jump to Class 5A, the Cowapa will wel-
come the Molalla Indians — for football only
— to keep it as a six-team league. In all other
sports, the Cowapa League will be a five-team
league.
It’s better than nothing, said Astoria ath-
letic director Howard Rub, after the offseason
realignment by the Oregon School Activities
Association.
“It’s kind of a weird, funky way for us to
even things out for football, but I’m glad it
happened,” Rub said. “Because, unlike a lot
of other sports, it’s impossible to find a good
nonleague matchup in the middle of a league
season.”
If the Cowapa had remained a five-school
league for football, it would have created a bye
week for one team every week of the league
season.
Astoria begins the 2018 season Aug. 31 —
ironically, for a nonleague game at Scappoose.
Seaside will host Henley on Aug. 31, while the
Fishermen and Gulls open the league season
Sept. 21 against each other, at Broadway Field.
Meanwhile, Molalla competed in the
Tri-Valley Conference last year, along with
• Astoria Fishermen at Scappoose Indians
• Friday, Aug. 31, 7 p.m.
Crook County, Estacada, Gladstone and
Madras.
The Tri-Valley (for football) is now known
as Special District 2, with Crook County,
Estacada, Gladstone, North Marion, The
Dalles and Woodburn. The Cowapa will be
known as Special District 1 in football.
The Oregon West Conference (Special Dis-
trict 3) is now comprised of Cascade, New-
port, Philomath, Sisters, Stayton and Sweet
Home. Special districts 4 and 5 have five
schools for football, while Special District 6
has four teams.
In other sports, the Cowapa contains five
teams (the usuals, minus Scappoose), while
the Oregon West will have seven.
For Cowapa football teams, “We still have
a five-game league schedule, and it just cre-
ates so much better balance for us as a league”
with Molalla moving in, Rub said. “It was
really great of Molalla, their athletic depart-
ment, their entire school district to recognize
the imbalance and the problems that the Cow-
apa only having five teams in football was
going to create.”
So the Cowapa will lose one traditionally
strong football program in Scappoose, and
gain a program that struggled last season.
Molalla finished 3-6 overall in 2017,
ranked 21st out of 39 schools. That’s com-
pared to Scappoose, which was 8-2 and ranked
second. Molalla was 6-3 in 2016, 7-2 in 2015
and 7-3 in 2014.
The Fishermen are not totally unfamil-
iar with Molalla. Astoria played a nonleague
game with the Indians in 2013 (defeating
Molalla, 37-14). Molalla won by forfeit in
2012, and the Indians knocked off Astoria
41-13 in a 2011 play-in game. Seaside has not
played Molalla since 2003.
Halfway between Portland and Salem and
east of Interstate 5, Molalla will be the farthest
road trip for the Cowapa’s coastal schools of
Astoria, Seaside and Tillamook.
“One of the things Molalla wanted to make
certain was that they did not want to make
three trips to the coast in any one season,” Rub
said. “So they won’t play at Astoria, Seaside
and Tillamook in the same year.”
Still, the Indians are scheduled for back-to-
back road trips this season to Tillamook and
Seaside (Sept. 28, Oct. 5), then the Indians will
host Astoria on Oct. 12.
“It’s actually the same amount of travel
Molalla would have had in the Tri-Valley,”
Rub said. “No difference in travel. The mile-
age won’t be bad.”
And, Rub said, “that’s how it will stay, at
least for two years. But you never know. Never
say never.”
Williams
Les Bleus advance to World Cup final
reaches
Wimbledon
semifinals
By STEVE DOUGLAS
Associated Press
Associated Press
LONDON — There are moments
in which nothing at all seems differ-
ent about Serena Williams, moments
such as when she unleashed a 109
mph service winner to even her
Wimbledon quarterfinal at a set
apiece, leaned forward and yelled,
loudly as can be, “Cooome ooon!”
Or when, about 10 minutes later,
she stretched for a lunging backhand
winner to break at love and take con-
trol of the third set, then raised a fist,
figuring a berth in her 11th semifinal
at the All England Club was close at
hand.
And after Williams came up with
a comeback to beat 52nd-ranked
Camila Giorgi of Italy 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
on Tuesday, she headed off Cen-
tre Court with her right index fin-
ger aloft. Yes, no matter what the
rankings or seedings say, no matter
how long she was away, Williams
still looks capable of playing like
someone who’s No. 1, just about 10
months after having a baby.
“Everything right now is a little
bit of a surprise. To be here. To be
in the semifinals. I mean, I always
say I plan on it, I would like to be
there, have these goals,” Williams
said. “But when it actually happens,
it still is, like, ‘Wow, this is really
happening.’”
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia —
They’re young, they’re brash and
they’re collectively worth a billion
dollars. The one thing missing for this
French squad is an international title.
Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba and
France are about to get that chance.
Les Bleus are headed to the World
Cup final.
Samuel Umtiti clinched a 1-0
win over Belgium — and earned the
approval of watching French Presi-
dent Emmanuel Macron in the VIP
seats at St. Petersburg Stadium — by
scoring on a header off a corner kick
in the 51st minute on Tuesday.
“Vive la France! Vive la Repub-
lique!” France forward Antoine
Griezmann shouted during postgame
celebrations.
Umtiti played his part in a strong
defensive effort by the French, too,
helping to shut out the highest-scor-
ing team at the tournament and leav-
ing Belgium’s golden generation of
Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and
Romelu Lukaku to regret another
missed opportunity at a major
tournament.
“It’s me that scored,” Umtiti said,
“but we all delivered a big game.”
France’s players danced on the
field after the final whistle and their
fans sang in the stands long past the
end of the match, surrounded by yel-
low-clad security.
They certainly hope to keep the
party going on Sunday in the final in
Moscow. France — with an average
age of 26 — will face either Croatia
or England, who play Wednesday at
AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko
France’s Samuel Umtiti celebrates after scoring his side’s only goal
against Belgium at the World Cup in St. Petersburg Stadium.
the Luzhniki Stadium in the Russian
capital, and has a shot at redemption
after losing its last two major finals —
at the 2006 World Cup when Zinedine
Zidane was sent off for a nasty head-
butt and the 2016 European Champi-
onship on home soil.
“We’re immensely privileged to
be in the World Cup final,” France
coach Didier Deschamps said. “It was
so painful two years ago we have to
savor it.”
Deschamps now has the chance
to become the third person to win the
World Cup as a player and a coach,
after German great Franz Becken-
bauer and Brazil’s Mario Zagallo.
As France captain, Deschamps raised
soccer’s most prized trophy in 1998.
Deschamps has faced some crit-
icism for being too pragmatic and
functional despite having a squad of
superstars, but his team was set up
superbly against an opponent that
was largely restricted to only minor
chances and denied on two occasions
in particular by France goalkeeper
Hugo Lloris.
He dived to his right midway
through the first half to claw away
Toby Alderweireld’s shot, then got in
front of Lukaku to punch away one of
the many crosses sent in by Belgium
in the final stages.
In a tournament dominated by
goals from set pieces, France’s goal
came off a corner when Griezmann
curled in the ball from the right and
Umtiti got in front of tall Belgium
midfielder Marouane Fellaini to
knock in his header at the near post.
Up in the corporate seats, pres-
ident Macron reacted to the goal by
shaking the hand of King Philippe of
Belgium as FIFA president Gianni
Infantino watched on between them.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — After
a big game with the bats, the
Los Angeles Angels went home
worried about one of their most
important arms.
Kole Calhoun and Andrelton
Simmons each had three of Los
Angeles’ 15 hits Tuesday night,
but starting pitcher Garrett Rich-
ards left in the third inning of a
9-3 victory over the Seattle Mar-
iners because of irritation in his
right forearm.
Richards has been plagued by
injuries during his career and this
was just his second start since
coming off the disabled list after
being sidelined by a left hamstring
strain. He is scheduled to have an
MRI on Wednesday.
“It’s tough. Just hoping for
good news,” Calhoun said. “He’s
been battling for the better half of
a couple years. Hopefully, every-
thing comes back all right.”
Calhoun and Albert Pujols
both homered for the Angels, who
have won three of four. Calhoun
and Simmons each had two RBIs.
Ex-Seahawks
player Browner
charged with
trying to kill ex
POMONA, Calif. — Prose-
cutors say former NFL corner-
back Brandon Browner has been
charged with trying to kill his
ex-girlfriend after breaking into
her Southern California home.
Browner, who won Super
Bowls with the Seattle Sea-
hawks and New England Patriots,
was arrested Sunday east of Los
Angeles.
The LA County District Attor-
ney’s Office says the 33-year-
old was charged Tuesday with
attempted murder, first-degree res-
idential robbery and other counts.
It wasn’t immediately clear if
he has a lawyer. Arraignment is
scheduled for July 30.
Prosecutors say Browner broke
into the apartment, chased and
dragged the woman and then tried
to smother her in a carpet. Pros-
ecutors say he also stole a Rolex
watch valued at about $20,000.
Browner is from nearby
Pomona and played for Oregon
State University before signing
with the Seahawks in 2011.
Beard lifts Sparks
to 77-75 OT win
over Seattle
SEATTLE — Alana Beard
scored five of her 11 points in over-
time including a 3-pointer that put
Los Angeles ahead for good in a
77-75 victory to end Seattle’s five-
game win streak Tuesday.
Candace Parker led the Sparks
(13-8) with 21 points. She added
10 assists and was a rebound
shy of a triple-double with nine
boards.
Beard’s shot from behind the
arc came with 3:23 left in over-
time and put Los Angeles ahead
71-70. After Breanna Stewart
missed a pair of shots, Beard came
back with a jumper to extend the
Sparks’ lead.
The Storm (15-6), who lead
the WNBA’s Western Conference,
could not respond.
Parker’s turnaround hook
gave the Sparks a 77-72 lead
with 1:05 to play. Natasha How-
ard cut into the margin with a
three-point play, but Seattle came
no closer
Sue Bird, Howard and Stewart
all missed chances to tie the game
in the final seven seconds.
— Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
LOCAL SPORTS SCHEDULE
THURSDAY
Baseball
Seaside Wood Bat Tournament
(at Broadway Field)
Valley Catholic vs. Warrenton, 10 a.m.
Churchill vs. Madison, 12:30 p.m.
Baker vs. Hood River, 3 p.m.
The Dalles vs. Seaside, 5:30 p.m.