SAVANNAH, Tenn. -- Carroll College isn't just facing the No. 1 team in the nation today. They are also facing the No. 1 player in the NAIA.

University of Sioux Falls quarterback Chad Cavender was given the NAIA's coveted Rawling-Player of the Year Award at the annual Banquet of Champions Friday night.

The 6-0, 185-pound senior from Redding, Calif., has guided his team to a 27-0 record the past two seasons as a starter and is 238-for-349 passing (68.2 percent) with 26 touchdowns and 3,293 yards.

It wasn't a shock at the banquet that packed players and fans from across the nation into a hotel hall. The Cougars have dominated most of their games for the past two seasons and are the returning national champions.

Carroll College's own junior linebacker, Owen Koeppen, represented the Frontier Conference as a nominee for the annual award.

The award was given after speeches by coaches, school presidents and former NFL player and now local Savannah, Tenn., resident Andre Marquette Lott.

Lott inspired the student-athletes before him to "be great at what you do, whatever it is."

He also reflected on the death of former Redskins' teammate Sean Taylor, telling his listeners that the media had portrayed the player in a bad light.

"He was very Christian," he said about Taylor, who always hung up a sign quoting from the Bible Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

"Live every day like it's your last day, because you never know when it will be gone," Lott said.

The speech was followed by a gift exchange between school presidents, athletic directors and coaches. The short event caused quite a stir when Carroll head coach Mike Van Diest fell off the stage.

During exchanges, as individuals tried shuffling around and sharing the small back-lit stage, Van Diest took a bad step and fell nearly three feet off the edge.

But, the indestructible coach and former Wyoming linebacker was able to pull himself back up and rouse what had been an otherwise sleepy crowd.

"Heck of an entrance, huh?" the coach said with a smile as the crowd let out a roar of laughter. "As I've always said, 'do what I do.'"

Van Diest went on to say that he had found the name DeBoer, the same as Sioux Falls' head coach Kalen DeBoer, in his family tree -- a little bit of coincidence. He then recognized his assistant coaches for their hard work over the years and credited them for much of the success of the Saints' program.

No. 2 Carroll College will face off with No. 1 Sioux Falls in the title game beginning at noon CST. The game will be televised on cable channel CSTV and will air at 11 a.m. MST.