Minnesota’s reigning Mr. Football and Gophers recruit Peter Westerhaus suffered a hairline skull fracture last week when he was hit by a falling boulder while hiking with his family at the Grand Canyon, Marcus Fuller of the Pioneer Press reports today.

Westerhaus, a linebacker from Holy Family Catholic, has 50 stitches in his forehead, a black eye and recurring headaches, but doctors did not discover any brain damage and Westerhaus should be able to enroll at Minnesota in the summer and join the team as planned.

“The brain surgeon said everything was going to be all right,” Westerhaus told the Pioneer Press. “He said, ‘You’re going to be just fine playing football.’ That was music to my ears because we were basically preparing for the worst. He just said I needed time to heal up.“

Westerhaus’ high school coach, Dave Hopkins, said to the Pioneer Press: “We’re just thankful because I really believe he was four inches away from nothing happening and four inches away from dying.”