Which would make the best topic sentence? our football team has lost only one game this year. our football team is poised to win the championship. our football team has several outstanding players. our football team’s coach is a master of strategy.

The best example for a topic sentence is B. Our team is poised to win the championship.

The topic sentence conveys the main idea about what is going to be developed in a paragraph. In this case, this sentence is the one that resumes the whole idea of the paragraph, while the other sentences would function as the supporting ideas since they provide the reasons why the championship could be won.  

b. our party quickly made its way into the cave / but we failed to find our host [the cyclops] himself inside.

(you didn't attach a copy of the poem, but i'm answering as best as i can)

since a simile compares two unlike things using like or as, it kind of gives an item the ability to do something it can't.

example: "the player was like a tiger on the field"

in this sentence, the simile conveys the idea that the player was fast and strong, like a tiger.