How Cuthrell has transformed body and mind to being a stopper on the defensive line for Titans

Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 24, 2025

By Jay Spivey

For the Clemmons Courier

When a person is called “Juicy,” it is not often used as a term of endearment.

That’s not the case for Keenan Cuthrell, who is a rising senior on the football team at West Forsyth. After all, at one point he was 400 pounds. But he’s worked to get his weight down and has proven to be a stalwart on the Titans’ defense.

“It all started freshman year when I was really fat,” he said. “And one of the older guys used to say I looked juicy. So, they started calling me ‘Juicy.’”

Cuthrell shrugged his shoulders when he received that name from his teammates.

“When they first started calling me that, I was like, ‘OK,'” he said. “But now, it’s just stuck and it’s just part of my life at this point.”

As a freshman on the JV team for the Titans, Cuthrell said he played at 360 pounds at 5-foot-9. 

“I was always big, but I wasn’t that big,” Cuthrell said. “I didn’t start getting really big until I moved out here.”

Like many people COVID-19 might have been the root of the problem for Cuthrell. and he jumped from 240 pounds.

“Anything in the house,” Cuthrell said of what he was eating at the time. “I would do my schoolwork and eat. I would watch TV, do schoolwork, eat, sleep.”

About halfway through the school year of 2020-21 he said the virtual schooling at Clemmons Middle School in seventh grade and he moved back to the classroom in eighth grade. Even as a Pop Warner player for the Clemmons Broncos he took some ribbing.

“My Pop Warner coach said that I was a big kid, and I was good, but I needed to slim down on the fat and build more muscle,” Cuthrell said. 

Cuthrell was indiscriminate about what he ate.

“Boredom,” he said of the reason for eating so much. 

Just about then is when he arrived at West Forsyth. At the time Adrian Snow was the head coach for the varsity team at West Forsyth, and Cuthrell said the coaching staff knew a little bit about him.

“I had came to one of the youth camps cause of my friend’s brothers was a player,” Cuthrell said. “So, I went to one of the youth camps and I had pushed over their starting center. And then we did the youth camp and after that nothing really changed until we started football practice.”

Shortly after Cuthrell’s freshman season, Snow resigned and Coach Kevin Wallace, who had been the head coach at Northwest Guilford, replaced Snow. Wallace was hired in December of Cuthrell’s freshman year.

“He’s not small,” Wallace said. “But he holds his weight really well. He doesn’t look (like) what he weighs. I think he’s literally a ball of muscle and that’s why.”

Even Cuthrell realized something had to change because his mobility had decreased as a nose guard his freshman season with the Titans. Of course, his mother, Sharimen, stepped in with advice.

“My mom had started to say, if you want to start on varsity that you would have to lose a little bit of weight,” he said. “And Coach Wallace, coach would start saying it too.”

He also had some advice from Linsey Ciccocioppo, the head athletic trainer at West Forsyth, and Will Billingsley, who is an assistant coach on the football team. No wonder Ciccocioppo, Billingsley and Wallace took notice because, according to Cuthrell, he was 6 feet tall and weighed in at 400 pounds to start his sophomore season.

“It’s more controlled eating for him at times and stuff,” Wallace said. “Because me, Linsey talked to him. I know Will Bill talked to him. Just like healthy. At that point at 15 years old at (400) pounds is just not healthy.”

Once again, Cuthrell’s mom stepped in and two of them went to a doctor to see what could be done. The doctor prescribed Wegovy, which is a weight-loss drug.

“(The doctor) had suggested it because my blood-sugar was a little high, too,” Cuthrell said. “And he said it would help lower my blood-sugar and would help me lose weight at the same time.”

Cuthrell has been taking Wegovy for two years.

“When I first started, it was good,” he said. “I didn’t really feel anything because I didn’t feel anything. But now, I still don’t feel anything. But the difference is there. I’m at 365 now.”

Being on Wegovy has also changed Cuthrell’s mindset.

“I think he just gets more confident,” Wallace said. “He’s a confident kid already, but you can tell he has more confidence in how he’s walking around. He feels better.”

In addition, Wallace has Cuthrell and the rest of the players on a strict weightlifting regimen, which has helped complement the Wegovy.

“I’ve lost some fat in my stomach,” Cuthrell said. “And it’s flatter now. My arms are a little bit more defined. And my chest is losing fat, too. But I’ve still got a little bit of man boob right there.”

Losing weight has changed how he feels about himself. He’s even gone through this weight-loss journey with his father, Keenan Sr.

“I feel great,” Cuthrell said. “I’m able to wear smaller clothes, all my shorts that I have keep falling down.”

That has also pushed him away from the table and the snacks.

“It’s stopped me from eating a lot of junk food, drinking more water and lifting a lot more,” Cuthrell said. 

The hard work stayed paying off as a junior.

“Last year, I was definitely moving a lot better,” Cuthrell said. “I could play the whole game, and I would still be tired, but I could play the whole game. Now, I feel like I can play the whole, whole game.”

Even Cuthrell’s affectation has evolved as he’s “slimmed” down.

“Whenever they do (say it) I be saying that I’m not that juicy anymore,” Cuthrell said. “So, they just start calling me ‘Juice’ or stick with ‘Juicy.’”

Wallace has noticed the changes on and off the field for Cuthrell.

“Everything,” Wallace said of the improvements. “From the way he’s able to move on the field, doing better like classroom-wise. Just development. You just see how they develop from a freshman — I mean we got him spring semester of his freshman year, sophomore year, to his junior and senior year. Just them growing into young men.”

Fall practice for the football team officially starts, Wednesday, July 30. However, the team has been working out since school ended this past May. 

The season kicks off on Aug. 22 at Davie County in a nonconference game. With the improved movement this season, Cuthrell wants to go from zero sacks last season to at least five this season.

“He could be very good for us,” Wallace said. “I mean he’s very good in the run game, always has been. He’s just a force inside. It demands a double-team. There’s no one that can single-block him. And that’s a big thing. It allows our linebackers to play and allows other people to get singled up. Other people should not be blocked one-on-one.”

One of the issues Cuthrell openly acknowledges that he needs to improve is his work in the classroom at West Forsyth. 

“He’s doing what he’s supposed to do — work-wise, handing in work, all that stuff,” Wallace said. “The stuff people don’t think about. But he’s just matured more and is able to do what he’s been concentrating on. And getting better grades, hopefully he’ll play somewhere in college.”

Wallace has a sense that, if Cuthrell continues his upward movement as a player, and continues to improve as a student, that Cuthrell should get more college offers as the season goes on.

“I think there will be a lot of people after him on the (NCAA) DII level, I believe,” Wallace said. “I think that would be a big start for him,”

For Cuthrell, he just wants to get the chance to play in college.

“I don’t care where I play,” he said. “It would mean I would be pushing towards my goal to go to the NFL one day.”

Ironically, he has a backup plan if the NFL doesn’t work out.

“If I don’t make it to the NFL I’m going to be a chef,” he said.

That leads to what kind of experience Cuthrell has had in the kitchen,

“I haven’t done it, but I’m a pretty good cook,” he said. “I can make anything as long as I see it once.”