Jim May is heading home.

Scott City recently hired May, a 1989 graduate of the high school, as its new football coach. May served as the Perryville football coach last season, when he led the Pirates to the Class 3 playoffs.

"I'm excited about it," May said. "It's always nice to go home, I think. When I got into coaching, this is kind of where I wanted to be. It probably wasn't the greatest timing as far as Perryville's concerned, but it was a position I couldn't pass up."

Perryville lost its regional game, 50-20 to Ste. Genevieve, and finished the season 3-8.

May spent one year at Perryville after three years as an assistant football coach at Chaffee.

"When the position came open, it's pretty enticing to me," May said. "Scott City is a good program and they've had a lot of success over the years. It's home for me. I know a lot of people and I got family that still lives in town."

May takes over for Ronnie Jones, who spent two seasons at Scott City. Jones led the Rams to a 10-10 record over the last two years, including a berth in the Class 2 regionals. But the Rams lost to Malden 24-8 to end their season.

"I'm going to go in and focus on effort and intensity," May said. "We're going to try and get back to playing good, solid, fundamental football, hard-nosed football that Scott City was known for for decades."

One area where Scott City hopes May improves is the Rams' record against rival Chaffee. The Rams enjoyed a 21-game winning streak over the Red Devils, but Chaffee snapped the streak during the 2007 season, when May was an assistant with the Red Devils.

Chaffee now boasts the winning streak, having won the last two meetings between the schools.

"Scott City vs. Chaffee is just an awesome rivalry because the towns are so close, but it's a good rivalry," he said. "It should be a lot of fun. Scott City won for a long time, then the last couple of years the Red Devils have won. It will be a big game for me and for the school, like it always is."