USA Football Rules Editor Bill LeMonnier is a former college referee who currently serves as an ESPN NCAA rules analyst. Click here to ask Bill a question. Make sure to put “Ask the Official” in the subject line.

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My son plays junior high school football in Houston. They get two points for an extra point kick and one point if they run or pass it in.

In a recent game, a kicked extra point try was blocked, and the offensive player picked up the ball behind the line of scrimmage and ran it in. They were awarded one point.

I thought the ball was dead on extra point blocks and nobody could advance it. Please explain the rule.

Since you are in Texas, we’ll need to look at both the NFHS and NCAA rule books as Texas high schools use the NCAA book, so I’m not entirely sure which one you use.

At the high school level (NFHS) rules, the play is dead once it is obvious the kick will not be good. So if a kick is blocked, even if it bounces right to an offensive or defensive player, the play is over and the whistle sounds.

At the college level, either team can pick up a blocked extra point kick and advance it provided that the ball did not cross the line of scrimmage. Once a blocked extra point goes beyond the line of scrimmage and is secured by the offense, it is a dead ball. The defense can pick up the ball and advance it as long as the ball has not touched the end zone or gone out of bounds. Once it touches the ground in the end zone, the play is blown dead.

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In a game using NFHS rules, the offense had the ball first-and-15 following a penalty. On the ensuing snap, the quarterback dropped back and threw a quick screen to a wide receiver behind the line of scrimmage. A defender was called for defensive holding on a different wide receiver right at the line. The receiver who caught the ball advanced it 14 yards, nearly to the first down marker.

Does the penalty get enforced from the spot of the foul, the original spot or from the end of the run.

Enforcement for defensive holding on the high school level depends on a few factors, including one you described.

If the holding occurs on a running play, the penalty yardage is tacked off the end of the run or from the line of scrimmage, whichever penalizes the offending team more.

But since the hold was called on a pass play, what is defined in the rule book as a loose ball play, the penalty enforcement is always from the original spot. In this case, the offense has the choice of first-and-5 or second-and-1.

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I have two nephews who play high school football in Hawaii. In a recent game, one of them got cut by a defensive lineman at the line of scrimmage. The defender then got up and made the tackle. I always thought that if you cut somebody, you were giving yourself up for the play and were not eligible to get up and continue.

A player who performs a cut block – whether on offense or defense – has no restriction to get up and continue with the play. And as long as the cut block occurs within the free blocking zone by a player who started the play within the free blocking zone, it is a legal play per the NFHS rule book.

There are instances where a player becomes ineligible as a receiver. For instance, a player who steps out of bounds cannot catch a pass unless it is first touched by another player. But nothing that would negate someone as a blocker or tackler.