Sharon coaches write book on history of football program

SHARON, Pa. (WKBN) – Sharon High School’s football program has been around for 125 years — there’s a lot of history there. Now all of that history has been put into a book.

Lyle Bieber played at Sharon and still coaches there.

Tony Molinari also played and coached at the high school for 25 years.

They sat together with their new book nearby — “Pads of Glory: 125 Years of Sharon High School Football Tradition.”

“When you’re talking about football history like places like Sharon, Niles, Brookfield — they’ve played football a long time and there’s a thousand stories,” Molinari said.

“If you like history and you like Sharon football — yeah, this book’s for you,” Bieber said.

The book is 230 pages filled with pictures and records of every Sharon team, including the first one in 1899 that played one game, beating Sharpsville 16-0.

There are also articles specific to certain aspects of its history, like the historic Tiger Stadium, and others on its undefeated seasons.

“But the ’56 and the ’66 teams were undefeated and untied, and I was fortunate enough to be able to interview some of the players from those teams,” Bieber said.

Also featured are some of Sharon’s great players, including several who played in the NFL.

“First comes to mind is a guy that I played with, Randy Holloway, who played on the national championship team at Pitt and was the number one draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings,” Bieber said.

There are photos of Joe Nameth, whom Sharon faced but did not beat, and Tony Dorsett, whom Sharon did beat.

But there’s nothing on a Sharon State Championship.

“They’ve been the key team in the Valley. That’s Brookfield, Sharpsville, Hickory, Farrell but all of them have won state championships except Sharon,” Molinari said.

The book costs $30 and can be purchased at Gifted at Applegate in downtown Sharon. It can also be bought on the Sharon Historical Society website.