In Illinois that is not true anymore. They got rid of the "varsity game" requirement about 3 years ago (maybe longer). All you have to do is be evaluated working any HS level game. Trust me, I went for promotion in football last year and received evaluations in non-varsity games. The state relaxed many issues with promotion to make it a little more reasonable to become promoted.

Not everyone is going to work a varsity game in by their 5th season. Which is the earliest someone can become promoted to the Certified level if everything else is on time.

Peace