The news this week that the SAD 3 board of directors has approved football as a school-sponsored activity at Mount View High School in Thorndike represents the latest step in the growth spurt the sport is experiencing throughout Maine.

Mount View is unlikely to field a varsity team until at least 2009, but the Mustangs are expected to join the next wave of teams to enter the Maine Principals’ Association football ranks.

Nokomis of Newport may seek varsity status as soon as 2007, while Camden Hills of Rockport, Lincoln Academy of Newcastle, and Monmouth Academy are among other areas with school- or community-based programs in varying stages of development.

Already there is talk that expansion of the high school football ranks to four classes may come sooner rather than later.

It has been suggested in recent years that such a move wouldn’t come until there were at least 80 varsity programs.

That milestone won’t be reached for quite a while, even though several other communities are implementing youth programs with an eye toward bringing football to their high schools.

Football not only has supplanted baseball as the nation’s premier sport for many, it is seen as one of the best activities out there for developing school-based community pride, as well as for boosting the aspirations of those who play the game.

And, truth be told, there’s nothing quite like Friday Night Lights come the fall of the year, whether it’s in Tyler, Texas, or Biddeford, Maine.

So perhaps it’s time, in the interest of growing the sport and helping to preserve teams in towns where declining enrollments are affecting player turnout, to add a fourth class.

Back in the 1980s there were four divisions, too, but not nearly enough teams to justify it. Today is different, with a slow but steady growth in the number of programs. Sixty-seven schools have varsity teams this fall, 27 in Class A, 22 in Class B, and 18 in Class C.

Ideally, no change would be made until there were 72 teams, providing for four 18-team classes. But proponents of the move are growing in number and, in some cases, volume.

Some of that momentum stems from the dominance of southern Maine at the Class A level. Since the number of classes was reduced from four to three in 1987, the West has won all but one Class A state title – Bangor in 2001.

Under one scenario for shifting to four classes, Classes B, C, and D could each have 18 teams divided into nine-team East and West divisions. Each team would play eight regular-season games to get to four-team regional playoffs.

The highest-enrollment schools would compete in Class A, with the likes of Bangor, Oxford Hills of South Paris, Edward Little of Auburn and Lewiston playing against the Deerings, Portlands and Bonny Eagles from the south.

An eight-game regular season could lead to an eight-team playoff scenario, either the top eight in a one-division setup or two four-team playoffs in a two-division alignment.

And as new teams join the varsity ranks – mostly in Class B or C, based on the enrollments of programs now in the developmental stage – more teams could be elevated to Class A to even up the numerical composition of the four classes.

And who knows? By the time all this happens, maybe Cameron Stadium in Bangor will have artificial turf and some of the state championship games could come back north?

Just call it back to the (football) future.

Ernie Clark may be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net