Purdue @ Michigan plays (Video)

[just another ref]

Originally Posted by Rich

If a HS player gets ball first it makes a lot incidental.....as long as the defender doesn't annihilate the airborne shooter in the process.

Agreed, if he gets ball first. If he cleanly swats the ball into the wall followed by minimal contact of any kind, nobody wants a foul there, except the team taking the shot. But if the defender grazes the ball with a fingertip and then follow through with contact that draws blood, what do you have then? Obviously the OP is somewhere in between. To me, with the benefit of the replay, this meets the definition of a foul.

As far as rule vs. philosophy, I'm just saying there is no provision which says:

If the defender contacts the ball first, any subsequent contact shall be ruled incidental.

I call it the roughing the kicker philosophy.