[LarryS]

Excuse the basketball official asking the silly question in a football forum.

Situation from high school playoff game last night...daughter is a cheerleader for the school...and it happened twice.

Offense is in punt formation.

First situation...defender breaks through the line, jumps up into what he feels will be the path of the ball. Blocker in front of the punter hits him at the waist and the both move backward toward the punter with defender on the back of the blocker. The defender then falls over him and into the punter...hitting him around the knee while the punter is off the ground.

Second situation...two defenders break loose from the side, both taking an angle that would appear to take them in front of the punter. Offensive player pushes one of the rushers deeper into the backfield (apparently in an attempt to force him behind the punter). That block causes him to fall into the leg area of his teammate, which causes him to collide with the punter just as the punter lands...basically the offensive player blocked two defenders.

Both times the referee called roughing the kicker. I am sure the punter felt roughed, because he was really nailed both times. However, I thought it was not a penalty if the defender was blocked into the kicker.

Please explain the rule here and the application. Other than these two plays, I would give the crew an A++...and that was through the eyes of a fan. Offended team scored TD's on both drives after the penalty...daughter's school still won on TD scored with 0:38 left in game.

Thanks for your help.