Neil Gordon didn't mince words when describing his debut as Shaler Area's football coach last Friday. "Heaven. It was heaven for me. I loved every minute of it."

His team's 19-6 home victory against Baldwin was great, but for the veteran coach, the biggest thrill was simply being back on the sideline.

It's a chance he thought he lost when he was fired in March after 21 seasons as Penn Hills' coach.

"I can't remember the last time I didn't do something on a Friday night," Gordon said. "After the situation at Penn Hills, one of the biggest hurts for me was the idea that I wouldn't be a part of something on Friday nights.

"Now, I'm back on the sidelines doing something I enjoy. It's been great so far. I'm excited to be working with a fantastic group of kids."

Shaler's victory against Baldwin included a trio of outstanding individual performances:

• Quarterback Tyler Bills completed 14 of 20 passes for 182 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown strike to Jesse Della Valle.

• Della Valle caught six passes for 116 yards and also scored on a 24-yard run.

• Dan McGinley returned a kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown.

Gordon said he saw progress from his team against Baldwin. That's a good sign for a group that wasn't introduced to its new coach until late June, when Gordon took over for Jacque DeMatteo, who left to become Hampton's coach.

"In some areas, we're catching up more rapidly than others," Gordon said. "Our biggest problem was our late start. Not just myself, but the [assistant] coaches I brought from Penn Hills didn't get here until the latter part of the summer.

"I brought a new offensive coordinator, a new defensive coordinator, a new special teams coach and a new line coach.

"Not only were they new people, but they didn't even know the names of the players. The biggest key to our success is how tight our group can become. Can we become a family? We're just now marching down that road. We're trying to get into that position," Gordon said.

The Titans (1-0) play host to Hempfield Area (1-0) in a non-conference game at 7:30 p.m. today.

Gordon called the game winnable, but sees Hempfield as the favorite. "It is at our place," he said. "But they're bigger than we are. They're further along than we are. Yes, it's winnable, but it'll be an uphill battle.

"We need to be patient as coaches. It's that whole concept that Rome wasn't built in a day. We're just looking to ourselves to get better each week."

For now, Gordon said he is having a great time at his new job.

"I've loved every minute since I've been at Shaler."