Everyone - thanks for the great info. I took some pics, but can't get them off the camera yet - forgot the wire to pull them off my memory card.
I've had much better luck following some of the advice. This was my process:
1: Glued both pieces
2: I used the Kreg Bench clamp to pretty strongly clamp down the two pieces. I clamped the rail and stile with about half the clamp on both pieces. I think this clamp was better than a few Irwin quick clamps because the clamping pressure was delivered directly over the pocket screw area. The stile was clamped several inches away from the pocket screw area with the multiple Irwin clamp approach.
3: I set my (18 volt) drill to a torque setting of 8.
4: I drilled the screw in at full speed, stopping when the torque clutch started clicking
Last night I had no stiles split using this process! I think the combo of the clamping pressure not on the stile above the pocket screw and slower driving of the screw caused the issue.
The cherry stock I'm using is a combo of some tight grain and flatter grain. I created pocket screws on both types of grains, but agree that a tighter grain will probably hold better because the splitting lifted the face opposed to breaking off the end grain.
The end result was the faces aligned closer than before, but I still have a little work to smooth out the joints.
I still think pocket screws are the best way to join these pieces. I love the fact that the screw pulls together the joint so I don't have to wait for the glue to dry before moving to the next joints. Wouldn't the Domino require some drying and clamping?
I'll get those pics posted ASAP - I need to fing that dang cable. Thanks for all the comments! A big help!