on side kick/touched ball

Question
Arthur,
Here is a good one. Hope you can help explain. This actually happened this weekend in my son's Pop Warner game. Kicking team on side kicks, ball does not go 10 yards, kicking team bats the ball to the ground, opposing team picks ball up runs for touchdown. Should ball be dead where it was batted since it never went 10 yards or is the ball still live since it was never downed?

Looking forward to your interpretation.

Mike

Answer
Hello Mike,

Oh yeah, this definitely a good topic. I have seen this call blown in a few games. If the ball is touched by the kicking team before it travels 10 yards, it is called an illegal touching of the ball, kicking team. The ball is blown dead at that spot. The receiving team can not advance the football. Receiving teams ball. What was the ruling at your son's game?

Thank you for allowing AllExperts to answer your sports question.

Thank you,
Coach Arthur