Allen Worrell | Civitas News Service

Carroll County tackle Lucas Holder signs his national letter of intent to play football at Liberty University. Looking on are, front row, from left, brother Morgan Holder, father Rick Holder and mother Susan Holder; back row, Carroll County basketball Coach Brad Hawks, CCHS Athletic Director Darrin Matthews, Carroll County football Coach Tom Hale and Principal Chuck Thompson.

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HILLSVILLE, Va. — A Carroll County student with local ties has signed to play college football at Liberty University.

Lucas Holder was a standout offensive lineman for the Cavaliers. His mom, Susan Alderman Holder, went to Mount Airy High School, and uncle Delton Alderman Jr. played football for the Granite Bears.

Holder verbally committed to Liberty recently at a high school basketball game while talking to Liberty Head Coach Turner Gill and assistant head coach Carl Torbush.

“I walked over to Coach Gill and hugged him, and he saw the (Liberty) hat I was wearing,” the senior said. “And I told him, ‘I am coming to school next year,’ and he wrapped his arms around me and he said, ‘Good. We are glad to have you on board.’ It is a great feeling. It is good to be over. It was a fun process, but I am glad I finally have closure.”

When National Signing Day came up last week, Holder made it official.

Certainly, it has been a long recruiting process for the 6-foot-6, 270-pound tackle. An All-Region IV first-team selection and an All-Group AA second-team pick by the Virginia High School Coaches Association, Holder drew interest from a number of colleges, including a handful of ACC schools.

However, an official visit to Liberty the Jan. 26-27 weekend sold him on his decision.

“The people there, from the coaches to the students, everyone will always lend an extra hand. Everyone is extra nice to people so it really sold it for me. They were just Class A, Grade A people,” Holder said. “If my kids had to sign with somebody, it’s someone I would want them to be with. I didn’t see them as coaches. I went into Coach Gill’s home and saw them all as fathers and husbands. They were just great men. That was the thing I love and respect about all of them.”

In December of 2012, Holder was one of about 100 high school seniors chosen to play in the NUC All-American North-South Senior Game in Myrtle Beach, S.C. He also helped protect Connor Lundy so the quarterback could set a school record for passing yards in a season with 1,723.

At Liberty, Holder will have the chance to play for some highly-regarded coaches. Gill, who went 28-2 as the starting quarterback for Nebraska in the early 1980s, quickly made a name for himself in the coaching ranks for turning the University of Buffalo from one of the worst programs in college football into the Mid American Conference champions in 2008. After a two-year stint as head coach at Kansas University, Gill took over as Liberty’s head coach in December of 2011.

Torbush also brings an impressive resume to Liberty, having served a decade as an assistant coach/defensive coordinator at the University of North Carolina. Then he moved up to the Tar Heel head coaching spot from 1998-2000. He also has been a defensive coordinator at Alabama, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Baylor, among other schools.

“Regardless of their coaching accolades, they are just great people,” Holder said. “It is good to be around good, wholesome people and that is the thing that stuck out to me. That is what I want to surround myself with.”

It also doesn’t hurt that Liberty is highly regarded both academically and athletically. The Flames have won five of the past six Big South Conference football championships and are eyeing a move to big-time Division I football in the near future.

“They are expanding the stadium right now. It holds about 20,000 and by my sophomore year it will hold 35,000,” he said. “They have the biggest football-only weight room in the country, and they have one of the top strength and conditioning coaches in the country. He bench pressed 805 pounds. And it’s a big deal for me because this is what I have been working for since I was probably 14 years old.”

Ironically, Holder first caught the eye of Liberty’s coaches while they were scouting another player, Martinsville’s Larry Perkins, a 6-foot-5 defensive end that made the All-Timesland team this past season.

“They came and watched me at homecoming, but they didn’t come to watch me. They came to watch the Perkins kid,” he recalled.

As a tackle, Holder’s job was to keep Perkins away from the quarterback and running backs. Liberty offensive coordinator Dennis Wagner was there and took notice of the battle between Holder and Perkins.

“By the end of the game, Coach Wagner told me … he was on me the whole night and he only had two tackles the whole game. I shut him down, and Wagner called our coaches and told them he wanted me down for a visit.”

Since that time, Holder has built a special relationship with Wagner, his position coach.

“He is a great guy,” Holder said. “Three of his former players just played in the Pro Bowl and he has coached over 25 NFL players. It’s just a great place to be and to develop, not only as an athlete, but also academically and spiritually. They develop you as a person, helping you become a better man, not only in football, but by becoming a better person while doing it.”

Staff reporter Jeff Linville contributed to this story.