A fuel cell system utilizes at least one flow restricting device to vary the stoichiometric quantity of cathode reactant flowing to two discrete cathode sides of the fuel cell system. The varying of the stoichiometric quantity of cathode reactant can be between two predetermined values. The varying of the stoichiometric quantity can be during a steady state power demand placed on the system and/or during transients in a power demand placed on the system. The airmover that supplies the cathode reactant stream can be operated in a substantially continuous manner during a continuous power demand placed on the fuel cell system.