Pitt recruit Donald was dominating

 By Mike White | Saturday, Nov. 7, 1 a.m.

Few quick thoughts from Friday night's first round of WPIAL playoffs.

Aaron Donald's performance against Upper St. Clair was one of the best I've seen from a defensive lineman in a long time.

Donald was absolutely superb against Upper St. Clair, despite being double-teamed throughout the night. The quickness he has at the snap of the ball is astonishing at times. I spoke with Penn Hills line coach Demond Gibson after the game. Gibson knows a thing or two about big-time linemen. He was a pretty good one himself, playing on the DLine at Pitt after graduation from Penn Hills. He believes Gibson has an awfully bright futre at Pitt.

Pitt might have a really good one in Donald. And it is hard to find big-time defensive linemen, especially in Western Pennsylvania. Sure, Donald will be going against much bigger and better linemen in college, but the quickness he has will always be valuable.

Someone asked me before the game who was the best senior player in the WPIAL this season? I couldn't really give an answer because I don't think there is a player who has been head and shoulders above everyone this season. I thought about Canon-McMillan linebacker Mike Hull, who was superb early in the season. I don't know how Hull performed later in the season, but it's kind of hard to say Hull is the No. 1 senior when his team didn't even make the playoffs.

I don't think Sto-Rox quarterback Paul Jones is hands-down the No. 1 player, either. At this point, I think you could put Donald up against anybody.

Elsewhere

The string of futility is over. The Keystone Conference got a playoff victory when Uniontown beat Belle Vernon. The Keystone was 0-32 over the past eight years and the object of some jokes. Greensburg Salem, another Keystone member, showed itself well in a tough loss to New Castle. And Derry lost to Hopewell by only 28-14. So the Keystone did OK.

 It seemed the notion this year was that the Greater Allegheny Conference was a little weak. Well, forget that notion. Mars, Franklin Regional and Hampton all won tonight. Mars beat Trinity, Franklin Regional beat Montour and Hampton knocked off Chartiers Valley.

Another notion was correct. Many thought the Allegheny Conference in Class AA was weak. It was.