Richard Morgan Hill, 62, passed away recently at Grossmont Hospital.

Few people would recognize the name.  He preferred being called Rick but was even better known to a couple generations of fans and media around here as “Red” Hill.

Helix High  coach Mike Muirhead introduced me to this Tom Sawyer-looking teenager  in 1970, when I still was covering high school track for the Evening Tribune and Rick was a fledgling journalist for the school’s Highland Fling newspaper.

Rick wasn’t cut to be a television anchor man or radio sportscaster, but that didn’t stop him from becoming an important and respected contributor on the San Diego sports beat.

“I first met Rick in ‘seventy-two,” remembered Union-Tribune writer John Maffei, then the sports information director at San Diego State. “He just came into my office and offered his services.

“I used him to get tape of coaches and players and we put it on a hot line (which people would call for updates on the Aztecs sports teams).

“One of the truly honest guys I’ve ever known,” said Maffei.  “He would do anything for you and never asked for anything in return.”

Three time zones away, in West Palm Beach, Florida, retired radio sports anchor and Chargers broadcaster John DeMott was moved to post on Facebook:

“I first met Rick in the early seventies. He was just a kid out of school. He loved sports and he worked so dilligently to become a peer of the San Diego sports media. He did anything and everything he could to find his niche.

“Rick decided he would fill the need for every thankless chore he could think of. He chased tape in locker rooms and at press conferences. He lugged equipment at remotes. He earned part-time pay from about every broadcast outlet that did sports, and for some of the teams as well.

“It got to a point where we all took Red Hill for granted, which I believe is exactly what he hoped would be the case,” DeMott wrote.  “The number of folks who Chris Binkowski tells us were at his memorial last night proves that. He was Red Hill and he was one of us. RIP, Rick.”

“The turnout for his service–Chargers, Padres, USD, San Diego State, radio, and TV people were there–can tell you how many people he touched in his life,” said Maffei.

Red traveled with the Chargers, covered  Super Bowls, and every big, San Diego-linked sports event during his time.

I used to make a simple announcement on the stadium press box microphone for many years during my time with the Chargers.  It was more like a brief page: “Red Hill.”

Although Hill was not a fan of the nickname,  he knew that we all respected him for what he worked so hard to  become, a professional.

Wither, Oceanside?

The 45-0 loss to Mission Hills last week shook the foundation of the dynastic program at the school overlooking the intersection of old U.S. 101 and Interstate 5.

It’s one thing to get blown out, but even in losses the Pirates have usually managed to score. Their dominance in  the  North County, though being challenged the last few years by onrushing Mission Hills, hasn’t been in question.

The loss marked  the Pirates’ first shutout  to a North County team in 130 games. Carlsbad blanked them, 28-0, in 2005.  No North County squad had scored that many points in 152 games.  Fallbrook ran off with  a  51-28 victory in 2003.

There have been occasional whopping defeats–El Camino routed John Carroll’s 1991 team, 63-27, for example, but the highest shutout margin had been 39-0 by Carlsbad in 1979.

Margins like 45-0 haven’t been accomplished by San Diego Section teams in 89 years. There were losses to Metropolitan League rivals Coronado, 47-0, and Sweetwater, 57-0, in 1926, the Oceanside’s first football season.

The Pirates will attempt to get their swashbuckling groove on this week against 1-5 Torrey Pines.  Mission Hills probably will run the table in the regular season if it gets past Rancho Bernardo.

Coach Chris Hauser’s Grizzlies close versus weak Del Norte, pedestrian Vista, and better-than-average San Marcos, a 28-10 loser to Oceanside in the opening game.

Mission Hills’ victory kept the Grizzlies atop the weekly Union-Tribune voting and they picked up two additional first place votes that had been held by Helix, which defeated Steele Canyon, 41-6.

Some shakeups above raised Mission Hills a notch to 14th in the Cal-Hi Sports state rankings.  Helix follows at 15th.  Cathedral, La Costa Canyon, and St. Augustine are among 30 others on the bubble.

Week 8 poll, after seven weeks of games: