Come fall, change is coming to the gridiron.

The North Puget Sound League 4A is splitting into three divisions rather than the two current divisions — Cascade and Olympic.

The league’s athletic directors had supported the change — in the name of competitive balance — and it became official Jan. 22 when school principals gave their blessing.

Presently, the NPSL’s 16 member schools are equally divided into the two divisions. Kentwood, Kentlake and Tahoma along with the two other Kent schools, Hazen, Kennedy Catholic and Mount Rainier make up the Cascade Division.

While the Olympic Division consists of Enumclaw, Federal Way, Thomas Jefferson, Decatur, Todd Beamer, Auburn, Auburn Riverside and Auburn Mountainview.

Beginning with the 2018-19 school year — and for football only — there will be three divisions and new alignments for fans to follow.

• The Mountain Division will be made up of Kentwood, Tahoma, Enumclaw, Todd Beamer, Auburn Riverside and Kennedy Catholic.

• The Valley Division will include Kentlake, Auburn Mountainview, Hazen, Auburn, Federal Way.

• The Sound Division will have Kent-Meridian, Decatur, Thomas Jefferson, Mount Rainier and Kentridge.

The three-tiered approach was promoted by Dave Lutes, commissioner of the NPSL and athletic director for the Kent School District.

“After reviewing the competitive level the past two years in NPSL football, as commissioner, it was obvious we were not competing in the state playoffs having won just one game out of 17,” Lutes wrote in an email. “Competition levels within our league were similar to the playoffs. The disparity between NPSL teams could be found in the fact that over the past two years there have been 38 divisional “blowouts”, defined by a 30+ point differential. Blowouts are not beneficial to the winning team or the losing team. Nobody wins.”

Lutes added if the NPSL 4A continued to keep the league the way it was, each season would see the same results.

“By placing the more competitive teams in the same division we can better prepare them for the level of play needed to compete at the playoff level,” he said. “(While) the less competitive teams will have an opportunity to rebuild their programs and not be demoralized by “blowouts” week after week.”

Tony Davis, athletic director and head coach for Tahoma football, agrees with Lutes reasoning for wanting the league split into three divisions.

“I believe the ability for teams/programs that have been struggling to be competitive is the strength of the restructuring,” Davis wrote in an email, siting he thinks this will be the biggest benefit to the restructuring.

Mike Bush, head coach for Kentwood, said he feels the most change will be seen in the level of competition each week.

“We feel like our kids will be more engaged week to week,” he wrote in an email.

The NPSL’s 16 schools were divided not for reasons of geography, travel or traditional rivalries. Rather, the goal was competitive balance. Phil Engebretsen, athletic director at Enumclaw, said football records were considered for the past two seasons and the three divisions were crafted based upon on-field success. Enumclaw, coming off an 8-2 campaign that included a league championship, is in the toughest of the three divisions. The Valley Division is a step down and the new Sound Division includes teams that have struggled in recent years.

The numbers show the sorting-out process worked as anticipated. The six teams now making up the Mountain Division combined last season to post an impressive cumulative record of 44-18 and all had winning records; the five teams now comprising the Valley Division were a bit better than break-even at 26-25; and the five schools who will initially make up the Sound Division went 8-41 last fall, all with losing records.

Davis said one of the things the Tahoma community is excited about is “the opportunity to renew our rivalry with Enumclaw.”

Mark Gunderson, Enumclaw’s head coach, agreed with Davis that a plus side to the three-tiered league is being paired against Tahoma again.

When asked how these changes will affect Kentwood, Bush said its schedule still allows for the Conks to play Kentlake.

He said that nonleague game will be played week three. “It keeps all of our Covington rivalries in tact,” Bush wrote in an email.

Both Davis and Bush were in favor of these league changes.

When next season ends, Lutes said the “schools will have an opportunity to move from one division to another for the 2019 schedule based on their final division standings in 2018.”

He added once the 2019 season concludes, the league will evaluate whether it wants to continue this three-tiered approach.

“We want to make football fun again for these programs by providing more opportunities to win,” Lutes said.