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Photo by Andy Atkinson Jay Kuester has spent a lot of time in the whirlpool in the trainer's room. Playing through the pain Ashland's Kuester dogged by injuries By DON HUNT ASHLAND -- It's a little after 3 o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon as the Ashland High football players head to the locker room for another day of practice. But Jay Kuester turns off the beaten path and heads for the training room. For the next 30 minutes or so, he will get ultrasound treatment for the pulled tendons and the bursitis in his hips, electronic stimulation for the bruise on his knee and run warm water from the whirlpool around and around his aching body. Kuester (his name rhymes with Lester) has become one of the top receivers in the state for the 10-0, No. 4-ranked Grizzlies, who play host to No. 6 Churchill (9-1) Friday night (7:30) at Walter A. Phillips Field. But keeping Kuester on the field and clicking on all cylinders has proved to be quite a challenge for the Ashland coaching staff. And, more specifically, trainer Lisa Skinner. "He's one of my regulars," Skinner says. "I've gotten to know Jay, and I really like him, but I wish I didn't have to see him so often." Kuester, the latest in a long line of standout Grizzly receivers, was enjoying one of his best games last Friday during Ashland's 23-7 victory over McKay in the opening round of the state playoffs. He caught a 26-yard screen pass that set up a touchdown by teammate Kris Pavilionis, made a brilliant spin move that enabled him to turn a short pass into a 27-yard touchdown of his own and had six receptions for 107 yards in the first half. But then came cramps in his hamstring muscles that were so severe Kuester didn't return to the field in the second half. Skinner massaged the cramps in an effort to allow Kuester back into the game. But to no avail. "I don't think I've ever been more frustrated in my life," says Kuester, a native Californian who moved to Ashland four years ago. "I could hear the crowd roar when we did something good and go `ahhhh' when we did something bad, but I couldn't even watch because I was lying on my stomach. "I wanted to go back out there, but there was just no way." The cramps are a relatively new malady for the slender senior, who is built more like a cross-country runner than a football player. When the cramps first appeared a couple of weeks ago, Skinner told Kuester to cut down on sugar-filled foods, increase his intake of bananas and other potassium-rich fruit and ingest as much water as his 5-foot-10, 150-pound body could stand. But even at that, Kuester cramped up. "I was fully hydrated, I know that," says Kuester, who also must battle exercise-induced asthma. "Maybe I just took a hit in the wrong place or something." Kuester vows he'll be ready to go Friday, and the Grizzlies will need him. Churchill's only loss came against No. 1-ranked Marshfield and the Lancers are coming off a 50-20 thumping of Central Catholic in the opening round of the playoffs. Although not equipped with size and not regarded as blazing fast, Kuester has had a habit of making big plays. He's accumulated 769 yards on 34 catches, an average of 22.6 yards per catch. And five of his seven TDs have gone for 30 yards or more. "He catches the ball in traffic and manages to get deep once or twice a game," Ashland coach Jim Nagel says. "Jay has definitely turned into our big-play guy." Kuester's 70-yard TD reception against Roseburg on Oct. 9 is considered to be one of the most spectacular plays in Ashland High football history. Kuester caught a pass that bounced off the shoulder pads of Indians defensive back Pat Anderson. The two collided as the ball arrived and Kuester nearly fell down after making the catch. But he put a hand to the turf to regain his balance and sped the rest of the way to the end zone. "If we had an all-time highlight reel that play would have to be on it," Nagel says. Until this season, Kuester seemed better suited as a defensive back than a wide receiver. He was a top reserve for Ashland's SOC championship team a year ago and found himself in the starting lineup at free safety for the Grizzlies' two playoff games in 1997. But with Ashland losing standout receivers Cy Aleman and Brian Luman to graduation, it needed someone to fill the void. That someone is Kuester. "I learned a lot from Cy," says Kuester of Aleman, who got a scholarship to play football at Oregon and is currently a redshirt freshman with the Ducks. "He had an attitude that when that ball went up in the air, it was his. "I don't think Cy had the best hands on our team, but he was the best receiver because he wanted the ball more than the DBs (defensive backs). "And that's the attitude I've developed." Kuester wore No. 16 last season but is now wearing No. 83, Aleman's old number. "Cy told me in the shower last year, after we lost to Tigard (in the state playoffs), that he wanted me to wear his number," Kuester says. "That meant a lot to me. We're still good friends." Kuester moved to Ashland from Rialto, Calif., with his parents and older brother, Stephen, after his eighth-grade year. Had he stayed, he would have attended Eisenhower High, a high school football power that has been nationally ranked. But Kuester's father, Harlon, wanted to get his family out of Southern California. "He wanted to give us a chance to see what the country was like and he knew Ashland had a good football program," Kuester says. Luckily for Kuester, Ashland has a good trainer, too. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford,