Former Albert Lea football coach Clay Anderson will lead a team to the state title game for the second time in his career.

Anderson and the Pipestone Arrows (13-0, 7-0 South Central White) will play Caledonia (13-0, 7-0 Southeast White) at 1 p.m. today in the Class AA state championship at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

According to a column written by Aaron Worm and published by the Tribune in 2011, Anderson led Le Center to a state runner-up finish in 1999 and took Norwood Young America to the state playoffs twice before coaching Albert Lea for six years.

During Anderson’s time with the Tigers, he had an 11-44 record. Highlights included a 5-2 record against Austin and a 26-21 victory over previously unbeaten No. 7 Rochester Century in 2009.

After Albert Lea and before Pipestone, Anderson coached football and served as athletic director at Benton Community High School in Van Horne, Iowa.

Anderson is in his first year as head coach of the Arrows, a team that was 10-3 and qualified for the state semifinals last season. Pipestone beat Norwood Young America 30-28 in the state quarterfinals before a 35-18 loss to Holdingford, the eventual state champs.

This year, the Arrows picked up where they left off by outscoring their regular-season opponents 289-44 and posting shutouts in half of their eight regular-season games.

The Arrows cruised through the section playoffs by outscoring Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, Windom and Redwood Valley by a combined score of 136-13.

In the state quarterfinals, Pipestone beat Howard Lake-Waverly- Winsted 63-13. The Arrows qualified for the state title game Nov. 6 with a 49-9 win over United North Central in the state semifinals.

As posted to Minnesota-Scores.net, senior quarterback Brayden Baartman led Pipestone by completing 38 of 76 passes for 783 yards and 10 touchdowns. The team also has three players with more than 800 rushing yards: Austin Moeller, 1,163; Baartman, 963; and McKinley Bush, 837.

Anderson did not respond to a voicemail or email before the press deadline.