Monterey football

 A bus ride home -- filled with chatter, smiles and one big sigh of relief.
 The Toreadores snapped a 14-game road losing streak away from campus on Friday after beating Marina.
 So what if the ride was a mere 1.3 miles from campus. It was loud. Perhaps Monterey coach Dan Brown should have taken the bus around the block to soak it in.
 It's been a struggle for Brown since he arrived three years ago in mid July to a program that saw its numbers dwindle when there was no coach in place for four months.
 Building it back up has been a process, much longer than any previous stop Brown has had in his coaching career.
 As it is, this is still a team in a retooling mood with eight sophomores filling varsity uniforms. There is going to be growing pains.
 While Monterey showed flashes of its potential in parts of its first two games, getting blown out in three straight games can rattle anyone's confidence.
 "We still feel good about ourselves,'' Brown said. "We've had good practices. We just haven't put it together in a game.''
 Until the second half on Friday when the Toreadores scored the games last 14 points to break up a tie game.
 If there is a turning point in this season, Monterey will point back to the fourth quarter of a game in doubt when Brown essentially told his players how much he believed in them with one call.
 Pinned inside their own 30 in the fourth quarter, and faced with a fourth-and-two, Brown called off the punt team and brought his offense back on the field
 "I just told them we're going to win this game right now,'' Brown said.
 Failure might have changed the complexion of a seven-point game. Instead, the Toreadores rewarded their coaches confidence with a first down, driving down field for a game sealing touchdown.
 No one is calling it a rebirth in the program. But it certainly created a buzz on the bus ride home.