Legal Punt or Penalty?

[Deleted]

Recently I watched a game where one team struggled to long snap the ball to the punter.  After 2 bad snaps the rest of the game the QB took a direct snap from under center, turned and tossed it to the punter who caught it and punted it.  

First question... is this a legal punt?   

Second question... the defense treated it like a normal play and tried to tackle the "punter" as he was kicking.  Roughing the punter was called for a 15 yard penalty.  Is this the correct call? 

I'm very curious to see what the correct ruling is supposed to be.  I couldn't find it in the rule book with a quick search.  

[FredFan7]

I queried some colleagues on another site and they noted NFHS Rule 2-24. All requirements were met for a legal snap and a legal kick. The were of the consensus that the punt is legal and the punter is afforded protection.

If the punter hesitates in kicking the ball or starts running around, the referee can give the defense a little more leeway.

The only question they had was if the play met the numbering exception of a scrimmage kick.

[Deleted]

Thank you for taking the time to reply to this.  Greatly appreciate your insights.  The punt formation was legal with the correct number of players on the line of scrimmage.  There were only two things I wasn't sure about:

1) Does the punter have to receive the ball directly from the center in order to be an eligible kick?

2) Does the punter loose his protection if someone else touches the ball first (i.e. QB tosses ball back to punter)? 

[FredFan7]

Thanks for the question. Do you officiate? Welcome to the forum! Hope you stick around and continue to post!