Illegal Use of the Hands

[Suudy]

I've been involved in a long time disagreement over rule 9.2.3d with a WH. This is my 9th year officiating, and last year I called a kid for illegal use of the hands for contacting a wide receiver downfield before the ball was in the air. Here's the situation:

A1 is runs down the sideline on a pass route. B1 charges A1 and hits him full speed knocking A1 out of bounds. After hitting A1, quarterback A2, not seeing that A1 was hit, throws a pass downfield where A1 would have been had he not been hit (i.e. a streak route).

I flagged B1 because it was obvious that A1 was no longer a potential blocker. My white hat waved off the flag saying that it was legal contact since the ball was not in the air and the contact occurred in front and above the waist. When I mentioned 9.2.3d he said that was for illegal contact such as a hit in the back, hands to the face, etc.

Since then, I've called it with other WH's, and they are fine with it. I've just learned not to call it with this one WH. He's very experienced (over 30 years), but he just fundamentally disagrees with me on this one. Perhaps I'm being stubborn, but that kind of contact on a receiver seems unfair and that is the reason for the rule.

What would you guys do?