The Lions, champions of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, and the 23-year-old junior Mustard play at Wittenberg (10-0) in the first round at noon Saturday, Nov. 21.
“Craig has done a tremendous job of leading us back to the top of the Heartland,” Huber said. “He’s a thrower. He’s a pocket guy. He likes to stand in the pocket nice and tall.”
Mustard threw for 2,496 yards in the regular season with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His favorite target, Derick Tabar, caught 14 of the TD passes.
Until last Saturday, the Lions sported a perfect record. But another unbeaten team, their rivals from across the Ohio River, Thomas More College, spoiled that mark with a 42-17 victory in the Bridge Bowl.
“We knew we’d won a conference championship. We knew we were going to the playoffs,” Huber said. “That took a little pressure off the game itself. We don’t build our season or our success or failure around that one game. We were 5-5 last year, and this has been one of the neatest turnarounds in Division III football.”
The Mount is 0-4 in first-round playoff games. It has played them all on the road. Now it faces the Tigers for the first time ever. It’s a matchup Huber and Wittenberg coach Joe Fincham have talked about making happen in the regular season, but it hasn’t worked out.
“If there’s a program we’d hope to someday emulate, that would be Wittenberg,” Huber said. “They do it right all the things, year in and year out. We’re honored to be playing them.”
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