For the past two-plus seasons, the Thomas Jefferson football team has turned the WPIAL Class AAA Big Seven Conference into this: The Big One, with six other programs chasing it.

The Jaguars have won 15 consecutive Big Seven games, not losing a conference clash since Oct. 21, 2005, when they stumbled, 28-15, at West Mifflin.

In those 15 games, Thomas Jefferson has outscored opponents, 475-70, including a 116-7 margin through three Big Seven games this year.

Simply put, things have been easy for these big cats.

But tonight -- at least on the surface -- comes a test as tough as any when Thomas Jefferson (5-1, 4-0) plays host to Chartiers Valley (5-1, 4-0) in a clash of the teams at the top of the conference.

Thomas Jefferson enters the game as the Post-Gazette's No. 1-ranked WPIAL and PIAA Class AAA team; Chartiers Valley is the No. 5 team in the latest WPIAL rankings.

Chartiers Valley, though, will play without quarterback Santino Coury who most likely was lost for the season when he injured a leg returning a punt in a 17-16, double-overtime triumph against Ringgold last week.

Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak understands the depth of Coury's loss and how it could serve to greatly change the complexion of tonight's matchup.

"He is such a great player for them that I think it takes away some of their big-play threat," Cherpak said of Coury, who threw for 519 yards, rushed for 450 more and scored three touchdowns in the first six weeks.

"But, in a way, it makes it harder, too. If we knew he was going to play, we would know what to prepare for. Now, with him not going to play, we are sort of in a position where we don't know what to expect. When you don't know what to expect, you could get your defense into a little trouble."

Trouble is something Thomas Jefferson has rarely been in as of late.

After a first week loss where the Jaguars yielded 34 points in against Ohio powerhouse Glenville, Thomas Jefferson hasn't given up more than a touchdown in any game.

"We've been playing pretty well," Cherpak said. "But we need to come out and play with the same intensity we always do."