Tressel's image model for corn maze

Ohio Stadium isn’t the only place Jim Tressel’s face will be this football season.

The MAiZE at Little Darby Creek kicked off autumn with a tribute to Ohio State football by depicting Tressel and Woody Hayes’ faces in a nine-acre corn maze.

“Each year, we try to pick out something different that people can relate to and with Ohio State football being so popular in this area, we thought it was a good fit,” owner Randy Rausch said.

Last year the maze was dedicated to the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James. James’ maze face caught the attention of the viewers around the world when ESPN spotlighted The MAiZE and commended the Rausch’s for their creativity.

When deciding what to depict in the field each year, everyone in the family gets to participate, Rausch said.

Along with the Buckeyes-inspired maze, there is a separate maze that turns into The Haunted Field of Fright on weekends.

The Rausch family looks forward to this time of year when they can give families and urbanites time to enjoy the simplicities of farm life.

“I think a lot of people who come are from the city and most of them don’t get this kind of experience. We look forward to seeing kids and families have fun,” said Jayne Rausch, Randy’s wife and co-owner.

Aside from the two corn mazes, there are hay rides, pumpkin picking, a fun barn, giant slides, cow trains, laser tag, food and animals to allow guests to get the entire farm experience.

Some visitors have enjoyed their trip to Little Darby Creek so much that they have asked the Rausch family if they can hold their wedding receptions at The MAiZE.

“We had a 100-year-old barn that was recently torn down and re-built. Now, we have people asking us if they can hold their wedding receptions there,” Randy Rausch said.

OSU student Bobby Schwarzkopf attended The MAiZE last year and had no complaints about his trip.

“It was nice to get away from the chaos of campus life,” said Schwarzkopf, a fourth-year in consumer and family financial services. “I haven’t seen the Tressel and Woody maze, but LeBron’s face was nuts.”