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!